


Watching Iron Man 3

by orphan_account



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers react, Characters Watching Disney Movies, Gen, Iron Man 3, Marvel Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27106492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Up next: Iron Man 3
Relationships: Brunnhilde | Valkyrie & Loki(Marvel), Gamora/Peter Quill/Tony Stark, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 6
Kudos: 113





	1. Introduction

"I need clarification on one thing. You were sent here to find the tesseract and bring it back to this Thanos guy, right? So why the army?" Tony asked.

"That question will be answered at a later time I'm afraid." Loraine said.

"Okay. Next question. You failed that particular mission, right? SO what happens to you now?" 

"Well, I imagine he isn't too happy with me, I lost him the tesseract and the scepter. So now I am to "long for something sweet as pain'." 

"I really wished we knew about the whole mother-ship thing beforehand." Steve said.

"Wait you said that they forced you into submission after you landed there, right? So all of this could have been avoided had you not fallen there?" Clint asked. "I assume he would have had another one of his generals take my place. I would think he would have sent The Other." Loki responded. 

"As long as we're done here. I would like to continue. From this point forward people from 2012, this is your future." Loraine said.

'Up next: Iron Man 3'


	2. Switzerland, 1999

**Tony is narrating. "A famous man once said 'we create our own demons'. *A suit is blown up* Who said that? What does that even mean? *Another suit blows up* Doesn't matter, I said it cause he said it. *The third suit blows up* So now he was famous and that's basically get said by two well known guys. I don't, uh..."**

The Avengers and SHIELD agents were confused. Why was Tony blowing up his suits. A few were also worried because they've never known him to trip on his words.

Tony himself was also confused as to why he would blow up the suits.

**"I'm gonna start again. Lets track this from the beginning."**

"Track what from the beginning?" Pepper asked, knowing she would receive no answer because this hasn't happened yet.

**The song 'I'm Blue' Starts playing.**

The teenagers start singing along and dancing in their chairs.

 **'1999' Appears on the screen.**

'Switzerland?' Tony thought, why start here?

 **'Bern, Switzerland' Also appears.**

"Isn't that where you first met Yinsen, but you didn't remember it?" Bruce asked. Tony nodded.

**'New years eve' Appears on screen. Inside a large amount of people are standing and talking. Tony is talking with Maya Hanson. She blows a noise maker in his face. He smiles. Happy turns around. "Half hour till the ball drops."**

Pepper, Rhodey and Tony started laughing. "Your hair!"

**"Hey you wanna-" Tony starts. A man walks up to them.**

**"Tony Stark? Great speech, man!" The guy says. Happy moves the guy away.**

**"I gave a speech? How was it?"**

"You forgot that you gave a speech, why am I not surprised?" Fury asked.

**"Edifying." Happy answers.**

**"Unintelligible." Maya corrects.**

A few people laughed.

**"Really?"**

**"Mm-hmm."**

**"It's my favorite kind, a winning combo."**

Rhodey looked confused. "I don't think that-"

**"Where are we going?" She asks.**

**"Uh, to town on each other, probably back in your room."**

Everyone sighed, exasperated. 

**"Cause I also wanna see your research."**

**"Okay, you can see my research, but that's...I'm not gonna show you my 'town'."**

**Yinsen notices them. "Mr. Stark" He says and walks up to them. "Ho Yinsen." Yinsen introduces.**

**"Oh, I finally met a man called 'Ho'."**

"Scratch that one off the bucket list, I guess." Clint said.

**They shake hands. He turns to Maya. "Come here." He says. " I would like to introduce you to our guest, Dr. Wu." He introduces his friend.**

**"Oh, this guy. *Tony shakes his hand* You're a heart doctor. She's going to need a cardiologist after I-" He blows on his noisemaker 3 times.**

"You are disgusting." Pepper said.

"And immature." Rhodey added.

**Tony and Maya walk away. "Bye." Maya says.**

**"Perhaps another time." Yinsen says.**

"Wish that other time was under better circumstances." Tony said quietly.

**Tony's voice over starts back up. " It started in Bern, Switzerland, 1999. The old days."**

**Happy, Maya and Tony are walking in a crowded hotel lobby.**

'Is that Aldrich Killian?' Pepper asked herself

**Killian walks up to them. "Mr. Stark!" He yells.**

**"I never thought they'd come back to bite me. Why would they?"**

"What did you do?" Steve asked quietly, so no one could hear him.

**The three of them, along with some other people step into an elevator. "Oh, wow! Hey, Tony! Aldrich Killian." Killian says, he turns to Maya. "I'm a big fan of your work!"**

**"My work?" She asks.**

**"Who isn't? He means me."**

"Bold claim." Natasha said.

**"Well, of course. But, Miss Hansen, my organization has been tracking your research since year two of MIT." He says.**

**Happy tries to stop him from getting in the elevator. "We're full." He says.**

**Killian ducks underneath his arm.**

**"Oh, wow. He made it. He made the cut."**

"Really?" Hope asked.

**"What floor are you going to, pal?" Happy asks.**

**"Oh, now, that is an appropriate question. The ground floor, actually. I've got a proposal I'm putting together with myself. It's a privately funded think tank called, Advanced Idea Mechanics." He holds out two business cards.**

**"Uh... she'll take both." Tony says.**

"Did you always not like being handed things? Or are you intentionally being rude?" Steve asked.

"Uh- both." Tony answered.

 **"One to throw away and one to not call."**

"Why are you being so mean to the poor guy?" May asked.

**"Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM for short. *He points to his shirt* Do you get it?"**

**"I see that, cause it's on your t-shirt."**

"So condescending." Loki said.

**"Aw!" The elevator door opens.**

**"Ladies, follow the mullet. Ladies first." Tony says. Maya exits the elevator.**

**"Thank you, I'll call you." She tells Killian.**

**Tony stops Killian from leaving as the women exit the elevator. "I'm titillated by the notion of working with you."**

"That's a lie." Natasha said.

**"Yeah?"**

**"I'll ditch these clowns. I'll see you up on the roof in five minutes."**

"Except you didn't, did you?" Clint asked, already knowing the answer. Of course he forgot.

 **"Just gonna try and get my beak wet real quick. You know what I'm talking about?"**

"Gross." Pepper said to Tony and hit him.

**The elevator door starts closing. "I'll see you up there."**

**"Damn betcha."**

"You didn't go to the roof did you?" Coulson asked.

"I did not." Tony responded.

**Tony, Maya and Happy are in Maya's hotel room. Tony and Maya are looking at a computer. "Come on! I thought that was just a theory." Tony says.**

**"Well, it was. If I'm right, we can access the area of the brain that governs repair-"**

**"Wow."**

**"-And chemically re-code it."**

"That is incredible." Bruce said. 

**"That's incredible. Essentially you're hacking into the genetic-"**

**"-Genetic operating system"**

**"-Of a-"**

**"Living organism."**

"Aw, you're finishing each others sentences." Natasha said.

**Happy starts messing with her plant. "Yes.** **"**

**"Wow."**

**"Is that... Can you..." Maya starts.**

**"What?" Happy asks.**

**"Can you not touch my plant. It's not...she doesn't like it. She prefers..."**

**"She's not like the others." Tony says the turns to Maya.**

**"Come on. Let's go in the bedroom. Happy..."**

**"That's cute, but..."**

**"Leave her ficus alone."**

"You really aren't very subtle." Scott said. 

**Tony takes the laptop into the bedroom. Maya follows him. "Because... and, no, seriously don't." She says.**

"Wait, I'm confused, why can't you touch it?" Bruce asked.

"Apparently there was like a glitch or something." Happy answered. 

**Inside the bedroom, Maya and Tony are still talking about her work. "And you're starting with plants?" He asks.**

**"And you're starting with plants?"**

**"For now, yeah."**

**" Huh."**

**"I'm calling it Extremis." Happy rips a leaf off the plant.**

"She said not to touch it, dude." Clint said.

"Yeah, why did you have to touch it, man." Scott said.

**"Well, it's-"**

**"Human application."**

**"Exactly! Exactly."** **The leaf starts to grow back.**

"Whoa." Shuri said.

"That's pretty amazing." Peter said. 

**"Dendritic revitalization."**

**"It's revolutionary."**

**"Disease prevention"**

**"Changes the world."**

"It can also be very dangerous." Strange said, seeing that there was a flip side.

**"Even limb regrowth."**

**"You're the most gifted woman I've ever met."**

"How hard was that to say?" Maria asked. 

**"Wow."**

**"In Switzerland."**

"Yep." Natasha said. 

**"Hmm, that's better. Aw, you're seeing things."**

**"This week."**

"There we go." Pepper said.

 **Maya takes Tony's glasses off and puts them on. "You almost bought it, didn't you?"**

"I don't think she did for a second." Peggy said.

**Happy closes the door. Tony and Maya kiss. Something blows up.**

"What the hell?" Sam asked. 

**"This is what I'm talking about, the glitch." Maya said.**

"The glitch makes it blow up!?" Bruce asked.

**"Have you checked the telomerase algorithm?"**

**"The what?" Happy runs in and tackles Tony onto the bed.**

**"Down! Stay down! Stay down, boss."**

"Overzealous are we, Happy?" Natasha asked. 

**"We're good."**

**"Stay down."**

**" You're...you're right on me. I made it. *Happy get's up* What the hell was that?" People outside are counting down.**

**"What was that?"**

**" It's a glitch in my work. It's-"**

**"She was just talking about it. Glitches happen."**

**"It's not Y2K."**

"Please tell me you didn't actually believe that bs." Strange said.

**People outside start cheering. "Hey!"**

**" Happy New Year." The three of them say after one another.**

**"Alright, I'll see you in the morning, goodnight." Tony tells Happy, they shake hands.**

**"You good?"**

**"Yep.** **"**

**"I'll be right outside."**

**"Okay." Happy leaves. Killian is shown, waiting for Tony, who never shows.**

A few people sighed. Others felt bad for the guy. 

**Tony's voice over starts again. "So why am I telling you this?"**

"Are we finally gonna find out?" Clint asked. 

**"Because I had just created demons, and I didn't even know it."**

'Killian' Everyone thought. What is he going to to in the next 13 years?

**Tony writes something on the back of his name-tag, then picks up his glasses and leaves. Maya looks behind her when she hears the door close. "Yeah, those were the good times. Then I moved on. After a brief soiree in an Afghan cave, I said goodbye to the party scene."**

A few people gave him disbelieving looks. "Okay mostly."

**'Present day. Malibu, California.' Appears on the screen. "Forgot that night in Switzerland. These days I'm a changed man, I'm different now. *'Forty-six' JARVIS says. I'm well... you know who I am."**

**"Forty-seven." Tony is shown injecting himself with little devices.**

"What the hell are you doing now?" Rhodey asked.

**"Sir, please may I request just a few hours to calibrate..." JARVIS says.**

**"No. Forty-eight." He injects himself again.**

'What is he injecting himself with.' The avengers thought, worried.

**"Ah! Micro-repeater implanting sequence complete." Tony says and wipes the blood off of his arm.**

"Why are you putting those into your body?" Shuri asked.

**"As you wish, sir. I've also prepared a safety briefing for you to entirely ignore."**

"Ah, JARVIS, you know me so well." Tony said.

**"Which I will."**

"I really wish you wouldn't" Vision said.

"I agree, you probably shouldn't ignore those." Bruce said.

**"Alright, lets do this." Tony says and stands up. He looks at Dum-E who's sweeping.** **"Dum-E. Hi, Dum-E. How did you get that cap on your head? You earned it."**

"Earned it? The cap says dunce." Clint said.

"Yes and I'm sure you know by now that Dum-E is an idiot." Tony said.

 **"Hey! Hey!" Tony stands up and gives a few punches to a pole in front of him. "What are you doing round in the corner? You know what you did. Blood on my mat, handle it."**

"You put your robots in time out?" Shuri asked, with a laugh. To be fair she would probably do the same thing.

 **"Sir, may I remind you that you've been awake for nearly seventy-two hours." JARVIS says**. 

"Whoa hold up, that's 3 days. That's not healthy." Strange said.

"Why haven't you been sleeping?" Rhodey asked.

Tony shrugged, this was the future, he didn't know. Maybe he just couldn't sleep. 

**Tony's standing on a platform in his lab. "Focus up, ladies. Good evening, and welcome to the birthing suite. I'm pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing, bad-ass, baby brother."**

A few people started snickering. 

**"Start tight and go wide, stamp in time. Mark 42 autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test."**

'Mark 42? How the hell did Tony make 36 suits in less than a year?' Pepper thought worried. Apparently others shared her thoughts too. "How did you make 36 suits in just a few months?" Bruce asked. Maybe it had something to do with his sudden lack of sleep.

 **"Initialize sequence." His suit starts powering up.**

Everyone caught on to what he was doing. "So you injected yourself with those things to call the suit to you." Steve said. Everyone gave him a 'duh' look. 

**"Jarvis, drop my needle." A jazzy rendition of jingle bells starts playing. Tony starts nodding his head to the music.**

A few people laughed at his odd music choice.

**He holds out his arms to call the suit, but nothing happens. He tries again.**

"So it didn't work." Pepper said. 

**"Crap." He bites his arm and hits them together.**

"When did we universally decide that hitting something would make it work again?" Peter asked.

**He holds them out again and this time three pieces of the suit attach themselves to his arm.**

A few people were impressed. "Nice." Quill said. 

**He holds his arms out again in flipped positions, a fourth piece attaches itself. "Alright, I think we got this. Send 'em all."**

"Let's not get to cocky." Rhodey said, having a feeling something would inevitably go wrong.

**Two more pieces fly to him and attach to his leg. A piece flies behind him and crashes into one of the display cases behind him. Another comes for his head he raised his arms to block it, the piece his a light.**

"That's why we don't get cocky." Rhodey said.

**"Probably a little fast, slow it down. Slow it down just a-" He ducks under another piece coming for his head. "-Little bit."**

A few people started laughing. 

**Another piece comes at him, it hits a pipe instead. Two another piece attaches itself to his other leg and one to his groin, tony groaned in pain.**

A few men in the room winced in time with on-screen tony. 

**One hits his back, and he's thrown off of the platform. He activates his flight stabilizers and gets back on his feet. "Cool it, will you, Jarvis?"**

"I'm starting to think JARVIS likes seeing me in pain." Tony said. 

**A piece attaches itself to his chest. Two more to his arm. The face-plate hits the table causing the music to stop.**

"No not the music." Ned said.

**"Come on. I ain't scared of you."**

"Of course you're not." Pepper said.

**The face-plate flies over, getting knocked upside down as it hits the table. Tony flips and it attaches itself. "I'm the best."**

"I wouldn't go that far." Coulson said.

**One more piece hits him and the armor falls apart. Tony is sent to the floor.**

Everyone laughed. "Don't get too cocky." Natasha said.

**"As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work."**

"JARVIS, you little sadist." Tony said.

**Tony's voice over starts again. "I guess seventy-two hours is a long time between siesta's"**

"Oh now you understand that!?" Rhodey and Pepper yelled.

**"Didn't think it could get any worse. Then I had to go and turn on the TV." Footage of the mandarin was shown. "That's when he happened."**

"When who happened?" Clint asked.

"I guess that's what we'll find out." Natasha said.

**"Some people call me a terrorist."**

"Okay so he's a terrorist." Tony said.

**"I consider myself a teacher. America, ready for another lesson? In 1864 in Sand Creek Colorado the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land. Thirty-nine hours ago the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I...I...I did that."**

"Why would he willingly and publicly take credit for something like that?" T'Challa asked.

"Well, some people just love the theatrics." Tony guessed.

**"A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuvers, the braves were away. President Ellis, you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am, you don't know where I am, and you'll never see me coming."**

"Could he be planning to kill the president?" Rhodey asked.

**"Now that we seem to be back, let's recap some of the frightening-" A reporter says.**

**"American Airwaves were high-jacked-"**

**"The nation remains on high alert-"**

**"All attempts to find the Mandarin have so far proved unsuccessful-"**

**President Ellis is talking to a group of reporters. "Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot." Rhodey walks up in red white and blue armor.**

"Iron patriot?" Tony asks, laughing. Rhodey sighed. "That's so stupid." He says still laughing.

"Laugh it up." Rhodey said. 

"He's like Iron man and Captain America in one. *Gasp* Iron America!" Shuri said. 

**"And how is President Ellis responding? By taking the guy they call War Machine and giving him a paint job." Bill Maher says.**

**"Same suit, but painted red, white, and blue. Look at that. And they also renamed him Iron Patriot. You know, just in case the paint was too subtle." Joan Rivers says.**

More people joined in on the laughter. 

**Tony and Rhodey are in a bar watching this on TV. "It tested well with focus groups, alright?" Rhodey explains.**

**"I am Iron Patriot." Tony says in a deep voice.**

The laughter erupted again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Tony said, as he stopped laughing, wiping tears away. 

**"It sucks."**

"It does."

**"Listen, War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright? This sends a better message."**

"Yeah, I gotta agree with you on that." Scott said.

**"So what's really goin' on? With Mandarin. Seriously, can we talk about this guy?"**

Everyone leaned forward, hoping to get an answer as well. "Tony you know I'm not gonna be able to talk about that." Rhodey said. 

**"It's classified information, Tony."**

Everyone sighed. 

**"Okay, there have been nine bombings."**

"Shit." A few people breathed out.

**"Nine." Tony repeats.**

**"The public only knows about three."**

"Why tell the general population about 3 but keep the other 6 a secret?" Thor asked.

 **"Here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings."**

"That's strange." Shuri said. Noises of agreement were heard.

**"You know I can help, just ask. I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile, I got a...I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air."**

**"When's the last time you got a good night's sleep?"**

**"Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?"**

"I wouldn't consider him a role model." Strange said. 

**"People are concerned about you, Tony. I'm concerned about you."**

**"You're gonna come at me like that?"**

'He's getting defensive.' Natasha noticed, sensing there was something else going on rather than just general insomnia.

**"No. No, look, I'm not trying to be a dic-" Two children walk up to their table. "-tator."**

"Nice save." Happy said.

**"Do you mind signing my drawing?" The girl asks.**

**"If Richard doesn't mind. *He turns to Rhodey* You alright with this, Dick?"**

Rhodey glared at Tony, who was laughing.

**"Fine with me." Rhodey says.**

**"What's your name?" He asks.**

**"Erin." The girl responds. Tony looks at the drawing which is him carrying the nuke into the wormhole.**

**Tony turns to the little boy. "I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way."**

"Oh my god." Scott laughed.

"He does look like that kid, though." Clint said.

 **"Listen, the Pentagon is scared. After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. *Tony looks up and nods* Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it's not-" Tony, distracted writes 'Erin help me' on the paper**.

The avengers and SHIELD agents looked confused and worried. What was wrong with Tony?

**"It's not superhero business, I get it."**

**"No, it's not, quite frankly. It's American business."**

**"That's why I said I *The crayon breaks* got it." Tony sighs.**

**"Are you okay?"**

**"I broke the crayon." Tony whispers.**

**"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?"**

"You're not looking too good, Tony." Rhodey said.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Tony said.

**"Take it easy. Tony-" Rhodey's voice fades away.**

**"How did you get out of the wormhole?" The boy asks. Tony gasps and stands up.**

"The wormhole?... is that what's causing this?" Pepper asked.

Tony stiffened at the mention of it.

**"Wait a minute! Tony!" Rhodey stands up as well.**

**"What did you say?"**

**"Tony!" Tony walks out of the bar, holding his chest and breathing heavily.**

'Okay there was definitely something wrong here.' Natasha confirmed in her head. 'Tony's having a panic attack'

**"Sorry." He says as he stumbles into someone.**

**"Sorry. Have to check on the suit...make sure...okay." He says. He gets into the suit and falls to his knees.**

Tony cringed. He lost his composure in public... again.

**"Check the heart, check the...check the...is it the brain?" He asks.**

**"No sign of cardiac analomy or unusual brain activity." JARVIS says.**

**"Okay, so I was poisoned?"**

"That's your first theory?" Strange asked.

**"My diagnosis is that you've experienced a severe anxiety attack."**

"As usual, JARVIS is correct." Natasha said quietly. 

Tony looked shocked, why would he be having anxiety attacks?

Others gave him knowing looks. Tony has PTSD. Because of the wormhole, why had they not thought this would happen is beyond them. 

**"Me?" Tony asks, incredulously.**

"I don't know why you're so surprised, what with some of the stuff you've been through." Rhodey said. 

**"Come on, man. This isn't a good look, open up." Rhodey says.**

**"Sorry, I gotta split." Tony flies off.**

"Tony, man don't do that." Rhodey said.

"Do what?" Tony asked.

"Don't close yourself off like that, not again." He said.

 **Happy is walking through the halls at Stark Industries. "Badge. Badge. Come on, badge. Badge, guys. I put a memo in the toilet, come on."**

"Happy don't turn into _that_ guy please." Tony said.

**Happy is now talking with Pepper. "Tony has got them in his basement, they're wearing party hats. This is an asset that we can put to use."**

"Or they can remain in my basement." Tony said.

 **"Uh-huh. So, you're suggesting that I replace the entire janitorial staff with robots?" Pepper asks.**

"That's a terrible idea, they're all incapable of the simplest tasks." Tony said.

"Then why don't you upgrade them?" Shuri asked.

"Why would I do that?" Tony asked.

**"What I'm saying is that the human element of Human Resources is our biggest point of vulnerability. We should start phasing it out immediately."**

"What? That doesn't make any sense." Pepper said.

**"What?"**

**"Excuse me, Bambi."**

**"Did you just say that?"**

**"Security."**

**"Happy?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Okay, I am thrilled that you're now the Head of Security, okay? It is the perfect position for you."**

**"Thank you."**

"There's a 'but.'" Natasha said, Happy looked confused.

**"However."**

"See."

**"I do appreciate it"**

**"Since you've taken the post-"**

**"You don't have to thank me."**

"Good, 'cause she's not." Hope said.

**"We've had a rise in staff complaints of three hundred percent"**

"Jesus, Happy how many people did you piss off?" Tony asked.

**"Thank you."**

"Wasn't a compliment..." Maria said.

**"Its not- It is a compliment! Clearly somebody's trying to hide something."**

"No. I don't think they are." Pepper said.

**Pepper's assistant walks up to them. "Excuse me."**

**"Yes?" Pepper asks."**

**"Miss Potts, your four o'clock is here."**

**"Thank you."**

**"Did you clear this four o'clock with me?"**

"Happy, stickler is not a good look on you." Tony said.

**"Happy, we'll talk about this later. But right now I have to go deal with this very annoying thing."**

**"How so?"**

**"I used to work with him, and he used to ask me out all the time. So it's a little awkward."**

Tony moved closer to Pepper.

Happy leans to whisper in his ear. "Tony, jealous is not a good look on you." Tony glared at him.

**"I don't like the sound of that." Happy says.**

**They walk into her office and see Killian standing there, no longer disabled and no more dorky glasses. "Pepper." He says.**

**"Killian?"**

"That's Killian!?" Everyone yelled.

"The future has been kind to him." Pepper said.

"I wonder how he did it." Shuri said. 

**"You look great. You look really great." He says.**

**"God, you look...you look great. I... I...I can't... What on earth have you been doing?"**

**" Nothing fancy, just five years in the hands of physical therapists. And please, call me Aldrich."**

"I think there was more than physical therapy." Coulson said.

**"Uh...you were supposed to be issued a security badge." Happy said. Pepper turns around.**

**"Happy, it's okay. We're good."**

**"You sure?"**

**"Yes. Stand down."**

**"Okay. I'm gonna linger, right here."**

"You don't trust him." Peggy observes. 

**"It's very nice to see you, Killian." Pepper says after Happy leaves.**

**Savin is sitting in a chair, he picks up a magazine. "Hey guy." Happy says and points to his badge.**

**Savin picks up his badge from the table next to him, he lifts his leg up to the arm of the chair. "Merry Christmas." He says to someone that passes him.**

"He looks sketchy." Clint observed. He received noised of agreement.

**"After years dodging the President's ban on 'immoral biotech research', my think tank now has a little something in the pipeline. It's an idea we like to call Extremis."**

"Wasn't that what Maya Hanson was working on?" Bruce asked.

"It was..." Tony said slowly.

"You don't think..." Rhodey started but trailed off.

"Killian used Extremis to cure his disability. That's exactly what I think." Tony said.

"What if he doesn't know about the glitch? The result could be catastrophic." Bruce said.

"But we don't know for sure that he used it on himself let's not close all of the doors yet." Rhodey said.

**"I'm gonna turn your lights down." The lights turn off. He holds out three small metal balls. "Regard the human brain." He slides the balls onto the table, a projection of a galaxy appears. "Uh...wait. Hold on, hold on. That's...that's the universe, my bad."**

"Show-off." Tony muttered.

**"But if I do this." He presses a button and now a brain is being projected.** **"That's the brain. Strangely mimetic though, wouldn't you say?"**

**"Wow, that's amazing!"**

**"Thanks, it's mine."**

"That's a projection of his brain?" Bruce asked. "That's pretty cool."

**"What?"**

**"This...you're inside my head. It's a... It's a live feed. Come on up, I'll prove it to you." He stands on the table and holds his hand out for Pepper. "Come on. Now, pinch my arm. I can take it. Pinch me." Pepper does so and something lights up in the brain projection.**

"Whoa." Shuri, Ned and Peter said. 

**"What is that?"**

**"It's the primary somatosensory cortex. It's the brain's pain center. But this is what I wanted to show you." He zooms in on the image.** **"Now, Extremis harnesses our bio-electrical potential and it goes...here. This is essentially an empty slot, and what this tells us is that our mind, our entire DNA in fact, is destined to be upgraded."**

"Maybe that's not such a good idea." Strange said. Could Killian not see how dangerous this was?

**Happy's tablet starts ringing. "Hello?" He asks, holding the tablet high above his head.**

"That's not how you're supposed to hold it." Tony said.

**"Is this forehead of Security?" Tony asks.**

"He said forehead of security." Peter said, laughing. Happy sighed. 

**"What? *He lowers the tablet* You know, look, I got a real job. What do you want? I'm working, I got something going on here."**

**Tony is walking through his lab. "What? Harassing interns?"**

"Harassing people who wont wear badges and trying to replace janitors with robots." Pepper corrected.

**"Let me tell you something, you know what happened when I told people I was Iron Man's body guard? They would laugh in my face." Tony laughs.**

"I can't imagine why they would do that." Tony said sarcastically. 

**"I had to leave while I still had a shred of dignity. Now I got a real job, I'm watching Pepper."**

**"What's going on? Fill me in."**

**"For real?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"Alright, so she's meeting up with this scientist. Rich guy, handsome."**

**"Right."**

**"I couldn't make his face at first, right? You know I'm good with faces."**

"You're the best." Tony said. 

**"Oh, Yeah, yeah. You're the best."**

Tony blinked. That was odd.

**"Yeah. Well, so I run his credentials, I make him Aldrich Killian. We actually met the guy back in... where were we in '99? The science conference?"**

**"Um...Switzerland."**

**"Right, right, exactly."**

**"Killian? No, I don't remember that guy."**

"Of course you wouldn't." Rhodey said.

**"Of course you don't. He's not a blond with a big rack. At first it was fine, they were talking business, but now it's like getting weird. He's showing her a big brain."**

**"His what?"**

"You know I can't imagine how weird that would sound without any context." Clint said. 

**"Big brain, and she likes it. Here, let me show you. Hold on. See?" Happy holds the camera toward Pepper's office.**

"You forgot to flip the screen." Peter said. 

**"Look at what? You watching them? Flip the screen and then we can get started."**

**"I'm not a tech genius like you."**

"You don't need to be a tech genius to know hoe to flip the camera around." Rhodey said. 

**"Just...just trust me, get down down here."**

**"Flip the screen, then I can see what they're doing."**

**"I can't! I don't know how to flip the screen!"**

"You're hopeless, Happy." Tony said.

"Don't talk to me like that anymore. You're not my boss."

"That sentence has a lot of 'you're not my dad energy'." Peter said. 

**Tony brings up a small profile on Killian with his phone, after reading it he swipes it back down. "Alright, I don't work for you. Now I don't trust this guy. He's got another guy with him, he's shifty."**

"Yeah, I picked up on that too." Peggy said.

**"Relax."**

**"Seriously?"**

**"I'm just asking you to secure the perimeter. Tell him to go out for a drink or something?"**

**"You know what? You should take more of an interest in what's going on here. This woman... this woman's the best thing that ever happened to you, and you...you're just ignoring her."**

Tony and Pepper looked at each other, then back at the screen. 

**"A giant brain?"**

**"Yeah, there's a giant brain, there's a shifty character. I'm gonna follow this guy. I'm gonna run his plates and if it gets rough, so be it."**

"Maybe you should have said that quieter." Natasha said.

**"I miss you, Happy."**

**"Yeah, I miss you too. But the way it used to be. Now you're off with the 'super-friends', I don't know what's going on with you anymore. The world's getting weird-"**

The avengers all glanced at one another.

**"Hey, I...I'd hate to cut you off. Do you have your taser on you?"**

**" Why?"**

**"I think there's a gal in HR who's trying to steal some printer ink, you should probably go over there and zap her." Tony locks his phone in the wine fridge.**

"Real mature, Tony." Rhodey said.

**"Imagine if you could hack into the hard drive of any living organism and recode its DNA."**

"That sounds good on the surface, but there are too many complications." Shuri said.

**"It would be incredible."**

**"Mm."**

**"Unfortunately, to my ears it also sounds highly weaponizable."**

"Correct." Coulson said.

**"As in enhanced soldiers, private armies, and Tony is not..." Pepper starts.**

"Wanting to be directly involved in that anymore." Tony finished.

**"Tony. Tony. You know, I invited Tony to join AIM thirteen years ago, he turned me down."**

"That's not exactly how it happened, but..." Tony said.

**"But something tells me now there is a new genius on the throne who doesn't have to answer to Tony anymore, and who has slightly less of an ego."**

**" It's gonna be a no, Aldrich. As much as I'd like to help you."**

"Good. There's something off-putting about this guy." Natasha said.

**They are now outside of the building. "Well, I can't say that I'm not disappointed. But then as my father used to say, 'Failure is the fog through which we glimpse triumph.'"**

"What does that even mean?" Scott asked.

**"That's very deep."**

**"Mmm."**

**"And I have no idea what it means."**

**"Well, me neither. He was kind of an idiot, my old man. I'm sure I'll see you again, Pepper."**

"That doesn't sound creepy at all." Peter said.

**Killian kisses her on the cheek.**

Tony glared at the screen.

**Happy walks up to her. "Happy." Pepper says, startled.**

**"The car is ready, if you're ready to go."**

**"Yes. I just um... God, I forgot my other things, so... I'm just gonna..." Pepper stutters and goes back inside.**

**Happy stares at Killian's car and takes a picture of it.**

"Smart." Clint said.


	3. My house get's blown up?

**Pepper pulls into the driveway and sees a giant stuffed bunny.**

"What the hell?" Rhodey asked, looking at his friend. 

**She walks inside. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was... What the... What is that?" She sees Tony sitting on the couch in the suit.**

"Really?" Pepper asked. Ton shrugged. 

**"You're wearing this in the house now? What is that, like Mark 15?"**

"No, its 42 because apparently you found time to make 36 more, the question is how." Pepper said.

**Tony looks to his arm that reads 'MK 42.' "Uh... yeah. Something like that. You know everybody needs a hobby."**

"I think this is becoming a bit more than a hobby, Tony." Rhodey said.

**"Oh, and you have to wear your hobby in the living room?" He walks over to her.**

**"Just breakin' it in. You know, it's always a little pinchy in the gooey bag at first, so."**

"I don't think we needed to know that." Natasha said.

**"Oh hey, did you see your Christmas present?"**

"I don't know how she could've missed it." Strange said.

"That was her Christmas present. Dude..." Clint said. "You have to do better than that." 

"I think it was kind of sweet." Scott said.

"It's a giant rabbit." Hope said.

"I know that." Scott said.

**"Yes, I did. I...I don't know how I could have missed that Christmas present. Is it gonna fit through the door?"**

"That's a... that's a good question." Tony said.

**"Well actually, uh...it's a good question. I got a team of guys comin' tomorrow, they're gonna blow out that wall."**

"You hired a team of people to blow a wall just so you can get a giant bunny inside of the house." Sam said slowly, making sure he heard that right. "Yeah, that makes perfect sense." 

"Well, rich people are weird." Clint said. 

**"Okay."**

**"So, uh...tense? Good day?" Tony starts rubbing her shoulders.**

**"Ooh shoulders, a little naughty. Naughty girl. I don't wanna harp on this, but did you like the custom rabbit?"**

**"Did I like it?"**

**"Nailed it, right?"**

"No.. No I really don't think so." Rhodey said.

**"Wow. I appreciate the thought very much."**

"Oof." Shuri said.

"Well, hey its the thought that counts." Tony defended.

**Pepper stands up to face him. "So why don't you lift up that face mask and give me a kiss?" Tony knocks on his head.**

**"Huh. Yup, dammit. No can do. You wanna just kiss it on the..."**

"Why aren't you opening the suit?" Steve asked.

"Maybe he's not in it." Sam said. Steve looked confused, why wouldn't he be in it?

**"uh-huh."**

**"Facial slit?"**

"You aren't in the suit, are you?" Pepper sighed.

"It would appear that I'm not." Tony said.

**"Well, why don't I run down to the garage and see if I can't find a crowbar to shimmy that thing open?" She starts walking toward the basement.**

**"Crowbar, yeah. Oh, except there's been a...uh...a radiation leak."**

"A radiation leak?" Bruce asked, skeptically. "That's a terrible excuse." 

"Why don't you want me down there?" Pepper asked. 

**They walk downstairs. "I'll take my chances."**

**"That's risky."**

**"At least let me get you like a Hazmat suit or a Geiger counter or something like that." Pepper gets to the lab, Tony's doing pull-ups.**

Pepper sighed. "That's why you didn't want me down there. What's going on with you, Tony?" She asked.

**A robot offers her food. "Busted."**

"You got that right." Rhodey said.

**"This is a new level of lame."**

"She's right, it is." Natasha said.

**"Sorry."**

**"You ate without me, already? On date night?"**

"Dude..." Clint said.

"Save the lecture." Tony said.

**"He was just..."**

**"Y-You mean you."**

**"Well, yeah. I just mean we were just-"**

"No just you." Pepper said.

"You're the one who controls the suits, man. Sorry to burst your bubble." Rhodey added.

**"Just hosting you while I finished up a little work."**

**"Uh-huh."**

**"And yes, I had a quick bite. I didn't know if you were comin' home or if you were having drinks with Aldrich Killian."**

Pepper glared at him. 

"Wrong thing to say, man." Sam said.

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't have said that." Clint said.

**Mark 42 looks at her. "What?" She asks it.**

**"Aldrich Killian? What are you checking up on me?"**

"Yes." Pepper answered.

"No." Tony denied.

**"Happy was concerned."**

"To be completely fair, Happy was concerned." Scott said.

"That's not the point, Scott." Hope said.

**"No, you're spying on me."**

**"I wasn't-"**

"You kind of were." Peggy said.

"Happy was the one who-" Tony started.

"Yes, but you asked him to tell you what was happening." Pepper cut him off.

**"I'm going to bed." She starts walking back upstairs.**

**"Hold on. Come on. Pep." She ignores him and continues walking.**

**"Hey, I admit it! My fault. Sorry."**

"That's the first time I've ever heard you admit you were wrong." Natasha said. "Something is definitely up here."

**"I'm a piping hot mess. It's been going on for a while, I haven't said anything." Pepper walks back down the stairs.**

**"Nothing's been the same since New York."**

"That much was obvious." Rhodey said. Tony glared at him. 

"Why didn't you tell anyone sooner?" Pepper asked. "We could've helped you."

**"Oh really? Well, I didn't notice that, at all."**

**"You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain 'em. Gods, aliens, other dimensions. I...I'm just a man in a can. The only reason I haven't cracked up is probably because you moved in. Which is great. I love you, I'm lucky. But, honey, I can't sleep."**

'Why can't he sleep' The avengers asked themselves.

**"You go to bed, I come down here. I do what I know, I tinker."**

"I guess that's where you found the time to make 36 suits." Bruce said. 

**"But threat is imminent"**

"What threat?" Steve asked. 

Strange looked back at Tony. He really wasn't lying when he said that Thanos had been is his head for six years.

**"And I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That's you."**

"That was actually really sweet." Hope said.

Pepper leaned over to hug him. 

**"My suits, they're uh..."**

**"Machines."**

**"They're part of me."**

**" A distraction."**

**"Maybe."**

"They definitely are a distraction." Rhodey said.

**Pepper walks up to him, takes the headset off and hugs his head. "I'm gonna take a shower." She says, then walks away.**

**"Okay."**

**"And you're gonna join me."**

**"Better."**

"I could have gone without hearing that." Wanda commented.

**Tony and Pepper are now in bed, asleep. Tony appears to be having a nightmare.**

Tony winced and looked away from his on-screen self. 

"You should really get help." Bruce said.

"You should." Rhodey said. Tony ignored them both. 

'I guess this is why he hasn't slept.' Steve thought.

**Flashes of New York appear on screen. Tony flinches and gasps.**

Tony flinched in time with his on-screen self. Pepper put her hand on his arm to comfort him.

**Flashes of him falling appear. He whimpers.**

Tony stiffened, and closed his eyes.

**Pepper wakes up. "Tony." Tony groans.**

**"Tony. Tony!" He whimpers.**

**The MK 42 leans over her. She gasps.**

Everyone gasped and flinched back. "Why the hell did that happen!?" Clint yelled. 

**Tony wakes up. " Power down!" He yells, the suit shuts off. He hits it making the pieces fall to the ground. The lights turn on. "I must have called it in my sleep. That's not supposed to happen."**

"You should probably fix that." Shuri said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Peter said. 

**"I'll re-calibrate the sensors. Can we just...just let me...just let me catch my breath, okay?"**

**Pepper gets up to leave. "Don't go, alright? Pepper?"**

**"I'm going to sleep downstairs. Tinker with that." She says and leaves.**

Once again everyone saw both sides of the argument. On one hand Pepper was almost attacked and needed to be alone, but on the other Tony was distressed and needed someone to stay with him.

**Taggart is messing with his dog-tags, outside of a Chinese theater in Los Angeles. Savin walks up to him. "Can you regulate?" He asks**

**"Yes, I can regulate."**

"Regulate what?" Quill asked. 

**"Are you sure about that?" "Yes."**

"Something tells me he can't." Peggy said.

**Happy is shown watching them.**

"You followed them." Tony said.

**Savin sets his briefcase down on the bench. "It's a decent batch. Don't say I never did nothin' for you."**

"Batch of what?" Bruce asked.

**"Thank you. I mean for understanding." Savin walks away. Taggart opens the briefcase. Just as Happy approaches, he closes it and goes to leave. Happy bumps into him, the contents of the case spill out.**

**Happy helps him pick it up. "I'm sorry, buddy." He says.**

Natasha laughed a little. "No you're not."

**Happy looks up and sees Taggart's face glowing orange.**

"What!?" Everyone asked. 

"The color of his face... does that look familiar to any of you?" Bruce asked.

A few people realized it was the familiar orange glow that Maya's plant had.

"Maya's plant... Extremis." Tony realized.

"If this is the case the only question is how did he get it." Bruce said.

"That guy that gave him the case was also the guy that, I think he worked for Killian." Happy said.

"So you think Killian is selling Extremis to people." Tony said. 

**Happy stands up, shocked and walks away, he has one of the things from the briefcase in his hand.**

"Smart." Natasha said. "Taking that with you."

**Savin walks into him. "What are you doin', buddy? You out by yourself? A little date night? Watching your favorite chick flick maybe?"**

"Taunting really?" Pepper asked. 

**"Yeah, a little movie called 'The Party's Over', starring you and your junkie girlfriend, and here's the ticket." He hold out the object he took from the briefcase.**

"That was a dumb move." Clint said.

**"No kidding? That doesn't belong to you." He says and goes to take the item back. Happy goes to punch him in the face. Savin dodges. He waits a moment then punches him in the jaw. Savin starts glowing orange, the cut on his nose heals. Happy's eyes widen.**

"He has it too!?"

**Happy goes to punch him again. Savin picks him up and throws him. he crashes into a glass case. Taggart starts glowing again. Savin walks up to Happy. Taggart is still glowing. "Savin." He chokes out.**

"That doesn't look good." T'Challa said, worriedly.

"He can't regulate it." Bruce said quietly. 

**Savin turns around. "Help. Help me." He growls. He starts choking then explodes.**

"Holy shit!" Everyone yelled. 

"The glitch." Tony realized.

"She never solved it." Shuri finished. 

"This is bad. We don't know how many other are injected with it." Rhodey said.

**Happy is lying on the ground, covered in blood, passed out.**

"Happy!" Pepper, Rhodey and Tony yelled.

"Please don't be dead." Tony whispered. 

**He stretches his arm out to Taggart's discarded dog tags. Savin stands up, glowing orange. He started walking away.**

"How is he just able to walk away from that?" Quill asked.

"Presumably because of Extremis." Tony said.

**The mandarin smashes a cookie on a table. "True story about fortune cookies. They look Chinese, they sound Chinese, but they're actually an American invention."**

"Wait really?" Ned asked.

"Focus, Ned." Peter said.

**"Which is why they're hollow, full of lies, and leave a bad taste in the mouth."**

A few people laughed. Hey' its true.

**"My disciples just destroyed another cheap American knock-off, The Chinese Theater."**

"Wait so that was him?" Scott asked. 

**"Mr. President, I know this must be getting frustrating, but this season of terror is drawing to a close. And don't worry, the big one is coming; your graduation."**

"Okay so he is definitely planning to kill the president." Bruce said.

**A nurse walks into Happy's hospital room. "Hi." Tony says, he's sitting in a dark corner of the room.**

"Why do you gotta be so ominous, dude?" Sam asked.

**The nurse startles. "Oh."**

**"Do you mind leaving that on?" He asks, in reference to the TV.**

**"Sure."**

**He stands up. "Sunday night's PBS 'Downtown Abbey'. That's his show. He thinks its elegant."**

"You watch Downtown Abbey?" Scott asked.

"I do." Happy said.

"Huh. You don't seem like the type." Hope said.

**"He's a stickler for that sort of thing, plus my guys won't let anyone in without them." Tony leaves.**

Happy smiled. "You do care." He said, sarcastically.

"Of course I care." Tony said.

**A group of reporters are waiting for Tony outside of the hospital. "We're awaiting the arrival of Tony Stark. We're hoping he'll give us the reaction...his reaction to the latest attack."**

"That's rude, them waiting for you outside of a hospital. Isn't that like an invasion of privacy or something?" Steve asked.

"Its, the press. They're vultures." Tony said. 

**Tony walks outside, the reporters start crowding him. "Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Our sources are telling us that this is another Mandarin attack. Anything else you can tell us?" One asks, Tony is trying to get to his car.**

**"Hey, Mr. Stark! When is somebody gonna kill this guy? Just sayin'."**

Everyone went still, waiting to hear what Tony is going to say to that.

"That's insensitive." Clint said.

**Tony turns around. "Is that what you want? Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now."**

"Here we go." Rhodey muttered. 

"Please tell me you're not about to do what I think you're about to do." Fury said.

**"My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided *He takes off his glasses and looks directly into the camera* that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body.**

"You threatened a terrorist." Natasha said.

**There's no politics here; it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10-8-80, Malibu Point, 9-0-2-6-5. I'll leave the door unlocked."**

"You gave a terrorist our home address!?" Pepper shouted. "What were you thinking!?" 

"Yeah, Tony what the hell?" Rhodey said. 

**"That's what you wanted, right?" He takes the phone and throws it into a wall. "Bill me." He says, gets into his car and leaves.**

"Did you really have to do that?" Vision asked.

**Tony is in his workshop, looking through data on the Mandarin. "I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir. Drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D., F.B.I., and C.I.A. intercepts."**

"Just casually hacks government agencies." Peter said.

**Tony takes a hologram and shoves it toward the middle of the room. "Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction." JARVIS says. A hologram of the Chinese theater appears. Images of similar occurrences float above.**

"That's impressive, that you can do that with your holograms." Bucky said. 

**"Okay, what do we got here? His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning "adviser to the King". South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher.**

"Probably just for the imagery." Natasha said.

**There's lots of pageantry going on here, lots of theater."**

"Why did you pronounce it like that?" Shuri asked. 

**Close. He holds out his fist and the information goes away. "The heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius. Any subjects within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly." JARVIS informs.**

"My, god." Clint said.

**"No bomb parts found in a three mile radius of the Chinese theater."**

**"No, sir."**

"Because it wasn't a bomb." Strange said.

**"Talk to me, Happy." He looks over at Happy on the projection. Two lines follow Happy's sight-line and where he was pointing to. Tony picks up the image of what Happy was looking at.**

**"When is a bomb not a bomb?"**

"When it's a person." Nebula said.

**He looks closer at the dog-tags. "Any military victims?"**

"Now you're on the right track." Peggy commented.

**"Not according to public records, sir."**

**"Bring up the thermogenic signatures again, factor in three thousand degrees." He climbs onto a tool chest to get a better look at the projection. A map of the united states is now being projected, showing the heat signatures.**

"That many?" Bruce asked.

**"The oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrence now."**

**" Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack."**

"That's a lot of attacks." Steve said.

**He looks at one that says 'San Jose, California'. "Nope." He looks at another one that says 'Rosehill, Tennessee.' "That. You sure that's not one of his?"**

**"It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide."**

"Damn." Quill said.

**"Bring her around."**

**"The heat signature is remarkably similar. Three thousand degrees Celsius."**

**"That's two military guys. Ever been to Tennessee, Jarvis?"**

**"Creating a flight plan for Tennessee."**

"You think it was one of his." Natasha said.

**Tony waves his arms and the projections go away. The doorbell rings.**

"Uh-oh." Scott said.

"I wonder who that could be, its not like you gave out address to the entire country. Oh wait." Pepper said.

**"Are we still at 'ding-dong'? We're supposed to be on total *He bangs on the table* security lock down. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?**

"You're not going to answer the door to a stranger, are you?" Rhodey asked. Tony stayed silent. "You are aren't you?"

**"There's only so much I can do, sir, when you give the world's press your home address."**

"Don't forget terrorist." Pepper said.

**Helicopters are hovering outside of the house.**

"Oh, son of a bitch." Tony said.

"That's not good." Quill said. 

**Maya Hanson is standing outside, she knocks.**

"Oh, its her." Bruce said.

 **The door opens and Maya steps in. Something scans her.**

"You weren't kidding about total security." Scott muttered.

"I don't play around." Tony said.

"Maybe we wouldn't need to be in that situation if you hadn't gave the world our address!" Pepper said, loudly.

**"Right there's fine." Tony says, he's wearing the suit. Maya stops walking. "You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?"**

"Does she look like the mandarin to you?" Rhodey asked.

**"You don't remember. Why am I not surprised?" She asks.**

"Of course you don't remember her." Pepper sighed.

**"Don't take it personally, I don't remember what I had for breakfast."**

"I relate." Peter said.

**"Gluten-free waffles, sir." JARVIS supplies.**

**"That's right."**

"Since when are you gluten free?" Rhodey asked.

Tony shrugged, he wasn't, maybe it was Pepper's idea.

 **"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you. Someplace not here, it's urgent."**

"Why does she suddenly need to speak with you?" Pepper asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with the Extremis glitch." Tony supplied. That seemed like the most logical reason.

"Or maybe you have a secret child." Clint said.

**"Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship."**

"Really?" Pepper asked. 

**"Its-" Two bags get thrown down from the balcony. "With her." The suit opens and Tony steps out.**

**"Tony is somebody there?" Pepper asks.**

**"Yeah, it's Maya Hansen."**

"So you do remember her." Natasha said. 

**Maya smiles when she realizes he remembers. "Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely."**

"Botanist?" Bruce asked. "I think she was more than a botanist."

**"Please don't tell me that there is a twelve year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met."**

"So you thought the same thing." Clint said.

**"He's 13." Tony gasps and flinches.**

"You have a kid?" Rhodey asked. 

**"And, no I need your help."**

"Damn. I was hoping we'd see a secret son." Rhodey said.

Tony sighs in relief, that he didn't have a child, he wasn't ready for that responsibility.

**"But, what for? Why now?"**

**"Because I read the papers, and, frankly, I don't think you'll last the week."**

"That doesn't explain why she needs my help." Tony said.

**"I'll be fine."**

"No, I don't think you will." Coulson said.

**Pepper walks up to them. "I'm sorry. With Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests."**

**"We weren't."**

**"No, I-"**

**"And old girlfriends!"**

"She wasn't-" Tony said. 

"The two of you get jealous very easily." Rhodey points out.

**"She's not really-"**

**"No, not really. It...it was just one night."**

**"That's how you did it, isn't it? Yep."**

"I- I didn't need to, nor did I want to know that." Valkyrie said.

**"It was a great night."**

**"Well, you know-"**

**"Yeah."**

"This is awkward." Sam said.

**"You have saved yourself a world of pain."**

**"I'm sure."**

Tony made a face. 

**"What?" Tony asked.**

**Pepper turned to him. "We're going out of town."**

"That's a good idea." Bruce said.

**"Okay, we've been through this. Nope."**

"Why the hell not?" Rhodey asked.

**"Yep!"**

**"The man says no."**

"If you didn't want to leave maybe you shouldn't have given away our address!" Pepper yelled. 

"Keeping yourselves there is doing you zero favors." Steve said.

**"Immediately and indefinitely!"**

"Good idea." Happy said.

**"Honey-"**

**"Great idea, let's go."**

"Listen to them, dude." Clint said

**"I'm sorry. That's a terrible idea."**

"No it isn't." Thor said. 

**"Please don't touch her bags."**

**"Tony, this is how normal people behave."**

"Yeah, but you're not very normal, are you?" Scott asked.

**"I can't protect you out there."**

"But bringing the danger to me is protecting me?" Pepper asked.

**Maya looks at the stuffed rabbit. "Is...is that normal?"**

"Sadly, yes." Pepper said.

**"Yes, this is normal!"**

**"Sadly, that...is very normal."**

**"It's a big bunny, relax about it!"**

"Why are you getting so angry?" Quill asked.

**"Calm down!"**

**"I got this for you."**

**"I'm aware of that."**

**"You still haven't even told me that you liked it!"**

"Probably because she doesn't." Clint said. 

**"I don't like it!"**

"Called it!" Clint yelled. Tony glared at him.

"This is going so well." Rocket said.

**"I asked you three... You don't like it?!"**

**Maya looks at the TV which shows the helicopters surrounding the house. "Guys?" She asks, they don't pay attention.**

**"Tony, we are leaving the house; that's not even up for discussion."**

**"I said no."**

"Just leave the house!" Everybody yelled.

**"Guys, can we um..." Maya says.**

**"What?" Tony asks.**

**She points to the bomb headed for the house. "Do we need to worry about that?"**

"Yeah, you probably do." Bruce said. 

**The bomb hits the house, everyone is thrown back. Tony calls the suit so that it catches Pepper.**

"Protective boyfriend mode." Rhodey said, quietly so nobody could hear him.

**They hit the ground. Two more helicopters head for the house. Savin is in one of them.**

"That guy." Happy growled.

"Well, you were right not to trust him." Natasha said.

**Tony sits up, he sees Maya unconscious on the floor. the ceiling starts to fall.**

**Pepper leans over him to protect him. "I got you."**

**"I got you first."**

"Not a competition." Gamora said.

**"Like I said, we can't stay here."**

Pepper opened her mouth in shock, he did not just say that. "You were the one who wanted to stay." She said. 

**The helicopters open fire on the house. Tony is thrown behind the couch. "Move! I'm right behind you." He says and jumps over the couch. A crack appears in the middle of the floor.**

"Oh no." 

"You're not gonna get across that safely." Peggy commented. 

**"Get her, I'm gonna find a way around. *Pepper hesitates* Stop stopping! Get her, get outside! Go!"**

"She's panicking dude, give her a break not everyone can remain calm in stressful situations." Clint said.

**Pepper picks up Maya, and attempts to use the repulsors but ends up throwing the two of them through the glass door.**

"At least they got out safely." Hope said

**Another bomb hits the house. "Oh my God. Tony!" Pepper yells. Another bomb hits the house and it starts to fall off the cliff.**

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, wondering if Tony would make it out of this, because at the moment the odds were not in his favor.

**Tony starts sliding down, he grabs a pole to keep himself from falling further. "Sir, Miss Potts is clear of the structure." JARVIS says.**

"Okay, now how are you gonna get out?" Scott asked.

**Tony calls the suit to him. Savin starts firing a machine gun, Tony army crawls to avoid the blasts. The suit finally reaches him. The house starts sliding further down the cliff. "Working on it, sir. This is a prototype."**

"Oh my god." Strange said, this just keeps getting worse.

**Tony uses his repulsors to fire the piano at one of the helicopters. "That's one."**

"Clever." Thor said.

**"Sir, the suit is not combat-ready."**

"Of course it isn't." Tony sighed.

**Tony starts running through the house, another helicopter targets him. He tears something from his suit, throws it at the helicopter then shoots it, making it explode. "That's two."**

"Its going to hit the house." Bucky observed.

**The helicopter starts hurtling toward the house. "Oh." Tony notices. It hits the house, Tony gets thrown into the basement. The cars start falling. Two more rockets are fired at the house. The display cases start blowing up. The house falls into the ocean, taking Tony with it.**

"Tony I swear to god if you're dead I will kill you myself." Pepper said, tears in her eyes. 

**Pepper runs over to the cliff. "Tony!" She screams.**

Tony paled. Pepper grabbed his arm tightly, he returned the gesture. 

**Tony is caught of some debris, water starts to fill the suit. Another piece of the house crashes on top of him. Savin's helicopter leaves. "Sir, take a deep breath." JARVIS instructs. One of his gauntlets flies off and frees him.**

"that's... thank god for JARVIS." Bruce said.

Tony nodded in agreement. 

**"Flight power restored." Tony flies out of the ocean.**

Sighs of relief were heard, at least he wasn't dead.   
  



	4. Rosehill, Tennessee and Harley Keener

**"Sir?" JARVIS asks, an alarm starts blaring. "Sir!" JARVIS repeats more urgently. Tony wakes up.**

**"Alright, kill the alarm. I got it."**

**"That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent."**

"Well shit." Clint said.

**Tony starts screaming as he falls through the air. He crashes into the street, then into the snow then into some trees before he finally landed. He rolls over onto his back.**

People winced each time he hit the ground. "That looked like it hurt." Quill said.

"Where are you?" Bruce asked, taking notice of the fact it was snowing, he definitely wasn't in southern California anymore.

**Tony takes the face-plate off. "It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?" He asks.**

**" We're five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee."**

"Why the hell did he bring you there?" Scott asked.

"Tony asked him to make a flight-plan, maybe JARVIS just decided to enact it then." Hope said.

"Well, while you're there you might as well do what you planned to do in the first place." Rhodey suggested.

**"Why? JARVIS! Not my idea! What are we doing here? This is thousands of miles away, I gotta get Pepper, I gotta-"**

"Its sweet that I was your first thought." Pepper said. 

**"I prepared a flight plan. This was the location."**

"Well, that answers that question." Scott said. 

"He almost sounds amused." Steve noted.

"I told you, he likes to see me suffer." Tony said.

Pepper rolled her eyes at him. 

**"Who asked you?"**

"Didn't you?" Shuri asked.

"I asked him to prepare a flight plan, not to enact it." Tony said. 

**"Open the suit."**

**"I...I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."**

"That doesn't sound good." Coulson said.

**"Open it J." The suit opens and Tony sits up.**

**"That's brisk."**

"Well, yeah its winter... and snowing." Strange said.

**"Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a bit." Tony goes to lay back down.**

**"I actually think I need to sleep now, sir."**

**"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy."**

Everyone was shocked to hear the vulnerability in his voice.

**Tony drags JARVIS through the snow. He gets to a gas station and steals a poncho off of a wooden Indian. "Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers." A female voice says.**

"Who are you calling?" Rhodey asked. 

**"Pepper, it's me."**

Pepper smiled.

**"I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again."**

"It shouldn't have happened the first time." Pepper muttered.

**"Also, it's Christmas time, the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry."**

"I really do hope you get her something else after all of this, not that the rabbit was bad or anything, just-" Clint said.

**"And I'm sorry in advance because...I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."**

"That has to be a new low, even for you." Pepper said with a laugh.

**Tony drags the suit up to a farmhouse. He busts open the door and the suit falls inside. He takes the poncho off and walks inside, he moves the suit to the couch.**

"When whoever lives here comes home, they're gonna be in for quite a shock." Bruce said. A random guy and a suit, just sitting in your garage. That's gotta freak some people out.

**"Let's get you comfy. You happy now?"**

"You know it can't talk back to you right?" Natasha asked.

"Yes I'm aware." Tony said.

"Just making sure."

**Tony uses pliers to pick things out of his arm. Harley walks in. "Freeze." He says.**

"Oh boy." Peter said.

**"Don't move." Harley says. Tony puts his hands up.**

**"You got me. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, it's gonna diminish your FPS."**

"You just met him and you're already insulting his stuff." Rhodey said with a sigh.

**Harley shoots at a glass on a shelf. "And now you're out of ammo."**

**"What's that thing on your chest?"**

**"It's a electromagnet. You should know, you've got a box of them right here."**

**"What does it power?" Tony moves the lamp so it shines on the suit.**

"It powers more than that." Steve said.

"Well, he's a kid why would I tell him I have metal shards in my chest that could kill me at any second?" Tony asked.

"Good point." Clint said.

**"Oh my God! *Harley drops the potato gun* Oh my god! That... that's... Is that Iron Man?"**

**"Technically, I am."**

**"Technically, you're dead." Harley hands him a newspaper, the headline reads 'Mandarin Attack: Stark presumed dead'.**

"Of course they think I'm dead." Tony said.

"Well your house did get blown up and you got taken down with it, I say its pretty reasonable to assume you died." Sam said.

**"What happened to him?"**

**"Life."**

The teenagers all snorted. Same.

**"I built him, I take care of him, I'll fix him."**

"With some random tools in some random kid's shed?" Quill asked.

**"Like a mechanic?"**

"Engineer, but mechanic works too." Tony said.

**"Yeah."**

**"Oh. If I was building Iron Man and War Machine-"**

**"It's Iron Patriot now."**

**"That's way cooler!"**

See, someone agrees with me." Rhodey said.

"It sucks." Tony said.

**"No, it's not."**

"Way to shoot him down." Steve said.

**"Anyways, I would have added in um... the retro..."**

**"Retro-reflective panels?"**

**"To make him stealth mode."**

'That's actually not a bad idea.' Tony thought.

**"You want a stealth mode?"**

**"Cool, right?"**

**"That's actually a good idea. Maybe I'll build one."**

"That is a good idea, I think you should do it." Clint said. 

**Harley accidentally breaks off one of the suit's fingers. "Oops."**

**"Not a good idea! What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain, he's been injured. Leave him alone."**

"How is he in pain if he can't feel anything?" Strange asked.

**"Sorry."**

**"Are you?"**

"Go easy on him, he's just a kid." Scott said.

**"Don't worry about it, I'll fix it. So, uh, who's home?" He asks.**

**"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago."**

"Well damn. At least he's honest." peter said. 

**"Mm. Which happens, dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it."**

"Would it kill you to show some sympathy once in a while?" Natasha asked.

**"Here's what I need: a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich."**

"Why tuna fish?" Gamora asked.

"Yeah, that's the worst type of sandwich." Ned said.

**"What's in it for me?"**

**"Salvation. What's his name?"**

"What's who's name?" Bruce asked.

**"Who?"**

**"The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?"**

"How did you figure that out?" Wanda asked. 

**"How'd you know that?"**

**"I got just the thing." He takes out a small metal object. "This is a pinata for a cricket. I'm kidding, it's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top. It discourages bullying."**

"You're gonna give a weapon to a kid." Rhodey said slowly.

**"Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass." He holds it out, Harley tries to take it put Ton pulls it back. "Deal? Deal? What'd you say?"**

**"Deal."**

"You bribed him." Natasha said. "It worked, didn't it?" Tony asked.

**"What's you're name?"**

**"Harley. And you're..."**

**"The mechanic. Tony"**

"Finally a name, I was getting sick of calling him 'strange kid' in my head." Tony said.

**"You know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?"**

A few people laughed. "You are such a dick." Rhodey said, laughing.

**There are fire trucks and police cars surrounding Tony's house, as well as some reporters. "Where is Tony Stark?" One asks.**

"Tennessee." Tony answered. 

"I mean at least people are looking for you." Steve said.

**Pepper has a broken Iron Man helmet in her hands. She puts it to her face, then hears a faint beeping noise. She turns the helmet over and sees a glowing red light.**

"That must be the message I left." Tony said.

**She puts the helmet on. "Stark Secure Server. Retinal scan: Verified." A female voice says.**

**"Pepper, it's me." Pepper gasps and smiles. "I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again."**

Pepper and Tony hug. "I'm glad you're okay." They said simultaneously. 

**Pepper and Maya are driving to Maya's house. "Why were you at the house tonight? What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?" Pepper asks.**

"Are we finally going to find that out?" Thor asked.

**"I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin."**

A few people gasped. "Okay, so who does she work for?" Natasha asked.

**"So if you still want to talk about it, I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe."**

**"Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony says you're a botanist, so-"**

A few people stared at him. "Yeah I know." He said.

**"That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure you can call me a botanist."**

"So far from a botanist." Pepper said.

**"This boss of yours, does he have a name?"**

**"Yeah, Aldrich Killian."**

"Shit." Everyone sighed. 

"Wait so could Killian be giving Extremis to people and the people who don't regulate, live we've seen, when they explode, the Mandarin takes credit for those, because now we know he has Extremis because he's working with her." Clint asked.

"That is definitely a possibility now." Tony muttered.

**Killian is on the phone with Savin. "Well, we took the house down, sir." Savin says.**

**"Mmm-hmm."**

**"But there's no sign of a body."**

"Because I'm not dead." Tony said.

**" I see."**

**"No Stark."**

**"I have to go." Killian walks into another room. "The Master is about to record and he's a little... Well, you know how he gets. Keep your appointment tonight and call me when it's done." The room is filled with a camera crew.**

"This just keeps getting more confusing." Scott said.

"Tell me about it." Tony replied.

**"Alright everybody. No talking and no eye contact, unless you wanna get shot in the face."**

"Harsh." Quill said.

**Two cars pull up to the house. The mandarin is in one of them. "The Master is travelling." A security guard says as the mandarin passes.**

"So Killian is definitely working with him." Rhodey said.

**The mandarin takes his seat in front of the camera. "Well then. What are we waiting for?"**

"Well, you were right about the pageantry." Gamora said.

**Tony and Harley are walking through the street of a small town. "The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do. By the way, when you said your sister had a watch-" He pulls up his sleeve, he's wearing a Dora watch.**

Everyone laughed. "I am never gonna let you live that down." Rhodey said. Tony rolled his eyes. 

**"Yeah?"**

**"I was kinda hoping for something a little more than that."**

**"She's six! Anyway, it's limited edition."**

"Of course it is." Tony sighed.

**"When can we talk about New York?"**

A few people held their breath, having seen what that subject does to Tony.

**"Maybe never, relax about it."**

**"What about The Avengers, can you talk about them?"**

**"I don't know, later. Hey kid, give me a little space." They reach the memorial sight. "What's the official story here? What happened?"**

"Is this that guy's memorial sight? The one who blew himself up?" Happy asked.

"Seems so." Tony said.

**"I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then he blew himself up right here."**

"JARVIS said he was a veteran, right? So he probably didn't 'go crazy.'" Rhodey said.

**"Six people died, right?"**

**"** **Yeah." "Including Chad Davis?"**

**"Yeah."**

"There's only five shadows." Natasha noticed.

**"Yeah. That doesn't make sense. *He sits down next to Harley* Think about it. Six dead, only five shadows."**

Tony's eyes widened. Extremis, Chad Davis was the bomb.

**"Yeah, people said these shadows are like the mark of souls gone to Heaven. Except the bomb guy, he went to Hell on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."**

"That doesn't make any sense." Steve said. 

**"Do you buy that?"**

**"That's what everyone says."**

"So he doesn't believe that." Sam said. 

**"You know what this crater reminds me of?"**

**"No idea. I'm not...I don't care."**

**"That giant wormhole, in um...in New York. Does it remind you?"**

"Why does he want to talk about it so bad?" Tony asked, feeling uncomfortable.

**"That's manipulative. I don't want to talk about it."**

**"Are they coming back? The aliens?"**

**"Maybe. Can you stop? Remember when I told you, that I have an anxiety issue?"**

"More than that, what I've seen so far is a prime example of PTSD." Strange said.

"I'm fine." Tony dismissed him.

Rhodey and Pepper looked disbelieving.

**"Does this subject make you edgy?"**

**"Yeah, a little bit. Can I just catch my breath for a second?"**

**"Are there bad guys in Rose Hill? Do you...do you need a plastic bag to breathe into? Do you have medication?"**

"You probably should." Rhodey said.

**"No."**

**"Do you need to be on it?"**

**"Probably."**

"I agree with Rhodey." Pepper said.

**"Do you have PTSD?"**

**"I don't think so."**

"What do you mean 'You don't think so', its obvious." Steve said.

**"Are you going completely mental? I can stop, do you want me to stop?"**

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Sam said.

**"Remember when I said to stop doing that? I swear to God, you're going to freak me out!" Tony stands up. "Ah man, you did it, didn't you? You happy now?" Tony starts jogging down the street, Harley runs after him.**

Tony looked distressed he did not want to continue watching himself have panic attacks thank you very much.

Pepper covered his hand with hers to calm him down. 

**"What did I say? Hey, wait up! Wait, wait." Tony falls to his knees in the snow.**

**"What the hell was that?"**

**Tony rubs some snow on his face then throws it at Harley. "Your fault, you spazzed me out."**

"Well it technically was his fault so I won't say anything about you being mean to a kid... again." Rhodey said. 

**"Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died...relatives? Mom? Mrs. Davis, where is she?"**

**"Where she always is."**

"So he can be helpful." Tony said.

**"See, now you're being helpful."**

"You're repeating yourself." Scott said.

**Tony walks up to a bar. He bumps into a lady causing her to drop something. "Sorry, Lady-"**

**Brandt walks up to him and takes the item back. " Thank you."**

"So you can be polite." Clint commented.

**"Nice haircut, suits you." He compliments.**

**"Nice watch."**

**"Yeah, limited edition."**

"I knew it would grow on you." Rhodey laughed.

**"Oh, I don't doubt it... Well, have a good evening." She walks off.**

**Tony enters the bar and sees Mrs. Davis drinking alone. Tony sets his drink on her table. "Mrs. Davis mind if I join you?" He asks.**

**"Free country."**

**"It sure is." Tony says and takes a seat.**

**"Alright. Where'd you like to start?"**

"She's not going to ask who you are or why you're there?" Gamora asked. "Strange."

"Maybe she thinks he's someone else." Quill said.

**"I just want to say I'm sorry about your loss. I want to know what you think happened."**

**"Look, I brought your damn file. You take it and go." She drops the file on front of him. "Whatever was in here, he wanted no part of it." Tony opens the file.**

"Yeah, she was definitely waiting for someone else." Tony said. 

**"Clearly, you're waiting for someone else. Yeah? Supposed to meet somebody here?"**

**"Yeah." He notices a photo of Taggart next to one of Chad.**

"The other military guy." Peter realized.

**"Mrs. Davis, your son didn't kill himself, I guarantee you. He didn't kill anyone. Someone used him."**

**"What?"**

**"As a weapon."**

**"You're not the person who called me after all, are you?"**

"She finally figures it out." Rocket said.

 **Brandt slams her badge on the table. "Actually, I am." She twists Tony's arm and slams him onto the table. Tony pockets Chad's dog tags.**

"Nice." Rhodey said.

**"Hey, hey, hey! What's all this about? What the hell's going on here?" A sheriff asks.**

**"It's called an arrest." She shoves Tony onto the ground.**

"Rude." Tony said. 

**"Sheriff is it?"**

**"Yes ma'am, it is. And you are?"**

**"Homeland Security. *She holds her badge out* We good here?"**

**"No, we're not good. I need a little more information than that."**

"This won't end well." Wanda observed.

**"Well, I think it's a little above your pay grade, Sheriff."**

"I really don't think it is." Tony said. 

**"Yeah, well, why don't you get on the horn to Nashville and uh...upgrade me." The sheriff says. Tony nods to Mrs. Davis, she shoves the file under the bar.**

"Good move." Natasha said.

**"Alright, you know what? I was hoping to do this the smart way, but uh...the fun way's always good." Her hand starts glowing orange around her badge.**

"She's got Extremis too!?" Bruce, Clint and Scott shouted.

**"Deputy, get this woman out of-" Brandt punches him with her now heated up badge, the grans his gun and shoots him. Tony runs. Brandt follows him.**

**"Hey hot wings, you wanna party? You and me, let's go."**

"Hot wings." Rocket laughed.

**Tony starts running down the street. Savin gets out of the car.**

"How did he know you were there?" Mantis asked.

"Lucky guess..." Tony suggested.

**Savin tries to shoot but a snowball hits him and he misses. Harley ducks behind a post.**

"What the hell was the kid doing there?" Tony asked. 

**Tony sees a guy lying on the ground by a car. "Crazy huh?" He asks.**

**"Yep."**

**"Watch this." Tony jumps through a window.**

"Why?" Rhodey asked.

**Brandt takes a rifle from a civilian following her. Tony stands up and runs when he sees the gun pointed at him. He jumps behind the counter, she shoots. She walks into the shop. Tony moves further behind the counter, he turns around, she's in front of him.**

A few people jump.

"Jesus." Tony gasped. 

**She shoves him into the wall and punches him, then flips him onto the table. She raises his arms above his head, smiles and tries to burn him. Tony jumps to the other side of the table and puts her in a choke-hold with his handcuffs, she starts glowing and the handcuffs melt off.**

"You're doing pretty well without your suit... and your hands." Clint said.

**Tony kicks an open jug of gasoline across the floor, then kicks the still burning pieces of the handcuffs into it. Brandt walks into the fire. Tony starts the microwave. "You walked right into this one, I've dated hotter chicks than you."**

"Even in the middle of a fight you still manage to come up with a one- liner." Pepper said.

**She bursts through the door, skin charred from the fire. Tony turns on the gas. "That's all you got? Cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?"**

**"Sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography." Tony leaves the building.**

"It kind of works." Happy said.

**Brandt notices the dog-tags in the microwave and the gas. The building explodes. Tony stumbles as he walks away. He sees Brandt dead, tangled in the telephone wires.**

"That's nice, just a dead person sitting in some wires." Rocket says. "No big deal."

**Savin is melting one of the poles holding the water tower up.**

"Not that guy." Happy complained.

**He brings it down, Tony starts running. The tower falls, water spilling everywhere. Tony is trapped underneath some metal. Savin has Harley. "Let me go!"**

"The kid." Tony gasped. 

**"Help me! Help me!" Savin mocks. He sits Harley on his knee.**

**"Hey kid, what would you like for Christmas?" He asks.**

**"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry!"**

**"Oh. No, no. I think he was trying to say, 'I want my god damn file'."**

"He better not that file." Clint said.

**"It's not your fault, kid. Remember what I told you about bullies."**

"The weapon you gave him." Gamora realized.

**Harley uses the object Tony gave him, it emits a blinding light, causing Savin to let him go. Harley runs away.**

Everyone let out sighs of relief, at least the kid got out unscathed. 

**"Do you like that, Westworld? That's the thing about smart guys, we always cover our ass." He holds out his hand, revealing a repulsor. He shoots Savin with it. He get's himself un-stuck. He takes Savin's keys.**

"Ha ha, nice." Rhodey says and he and Tony high-five.

**He walks up to the car with the file in his hand.**

"And you remembered to grab the file." Scott said.

**"You're welcome." Harley says.**

**"For what? Did I miss something?"**

"You could give him some credit." Steve said.

**"Me saving your life"**

**"Yeah. A, saved you first. B, thanks, sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz, alright? Just play it cool otherwise you come off grandiose."**

"And you don't?" Natasha asked.

**"Unlike you? Admit it, you need me. We're connected."**

"I'm not so sure about that." Tony said.

 **"What I need is for you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit and stay connected to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up. Okay, can you feel that? We're done here. Move it out the way or I'm going to run you over."**

"You wouldn't do that." Pepper said.

"Of course I wouldn't." Tony said.

**"Bye kid." Tony gets in the car. "I'm sorry, kid, you did good."**

**"So now you're just going to leave me here, like my dad?"**

"He's guilt-tripping you." Peggy said.

**"Yep... Wait, you're guilt tripping me, aren't you?"**

**"I'm cold."**

**"I can tell. You know how I can tell? 'Cause we're connected." Tony drives off.**

**"It was worth a shot."**

A few people laughed.

**Savin gasps awake, fully healed.**


	5. Trevor Slattery

**People are watching an advertisement for a Christmas tree. The screen goes black and the mandarin symbol shows up. "What happened to the picture?"**

**"Go to override."**

"So he's hacking the television signals to broadcast this." Howard said.

"Well, its not that hard to do so." Tony said. 

"This guy definitely enjoys the attention." Maria commented.

**"How is this happening again?"**

"Maybe because the people trying to prevent it are incompetent." Shuri said.

"Shuri." T'Challa scolded.

"What?" Shuri asked.

**"Mr Vice President, I think you should see this." Someone says as he walks up to the vice president. The group of people in the room stare at the mandarin symbol on the TV.**

**"Oh god, not again. Is the President getting this?"**

"I sure as shit hope so." Tony said.

**The president is in a plane, he looks at the screen in shock. The video starts playing. " Mr President. Only two lessons remain and I intend to finish this before Christmas morning. Meet Thomas Richards." He has a gun pointed to an old mans head.**

"What did that guy do, to warrant being a hostage?" Gamora asked.

"I don't- I don't think he did anything." Steve said sadly.

**"Good strong name. Good strong job. Thomas, here, is an accountant for the Roxxon Oil Corporation." Thomas starts crying.**

**"But I'm sure he's a really good guy. I'm going to shoot him in the head, live on your television in 30 seconds."**

**"No!"**

A few peoples eyes widened in panic. This guy is completely innocent, he doesn't deserve that.

**"The number for this telephone is in your cell phone. Exciting, isn't it, imagining how it got there? America, if your president calls me in the next half-minute, Tom lives. Go!"**

"He hacked his phone!?" Peter yelled. 

"This guy is good." Shuri said. Everyone stared at her, she realized her mistake. "That came out wrong. He's bad, but he's good at what he's doing. He's a good hacker." She explained. 

**"How did he hack my phone?" President Ellis asks.**

**"We can't allow terrorists to dictate.."**

"He's right you really shouldn't..." Bucky said.

**"I have to make this call."**

**"I'd strongly advise against that."**

"But it's the right thing to do." Steve protested.

"But, its also dangerous... negotiating with terrorists." Sam said. 

**"This is the right thing to do." He calls the number. On the TV, the phone starts ringing, the mandarin doesn't answer and shoots Tom in the head.**

"But he called the number!" Wanda yelled.

"He is a terrorist." Vision said, as if that explained it, which it did. 

"I guess he just... wanted to prove his point." Tony said.

"By killing a random dude." Rhodey added.

**"There's just one lesson left, President Ellis."**

"He did that just to teach him a lesson?" Thor asked. 

**"So run away, hide, kiss your children goodbye. Because nothing, not your army, not your red, white and blue attack dog, can save you. I'll see you soon."**

**"Tell Rhodes, find this lunatic right now."**

"Yeah, please do." Scott said.

**"Sir, we tracked the broadcast signal. We have a possible point of origin in Pakistan and the Patriot is ready to strike."**

**"Right now."**

**"Yes, sir."**

"Well, that was fast." Clint said.

**Tony is driving down the street, reading over the file.**

"Don't read and drive." Pepper said.

**He sighs and puts the file down in the passenger seat. "Man. Happy, Happy, Happy." He looks back at the file and notices MIA looks like its backwards he turns it over and it reads AIM.**

"Killian's project, from the party." Tony realized.

"So now we know that he has direct involvement in all of this." Rhodey said.

**Rhodey, in the Iron Patriot armor, busts through a door, the people in the room back away. "Don't move!" His phone rings.**

"Why do you have your phone with you?" Natasha asked.

**"Uh... hang on a second. *He answers the phone* Hello?"**

**"You ever have a chick straddling you and you look up and suddenly she's glowing from the inside out, kind of a bright orange?"**

"You have very weird ways of greeting people." Thor said.

**"Yeah, I've had that. Who is this?"**

"You really don't know." Tony asked, feigning hurt.

"The world thinks you're dead, Tony." Rhodey sighed.

**"It's me, pal. Now, last time I went missing, if I remember correctly, you came looking for me. What are you doing?"**

**"A little knock-and-talk, making friends in Pakistan. What are you doing?"**

**"Your redesign, your big re-brand, that was AIM, right?"**

**"Yeah."**

"Well, shit." Tony said.

"Now you really do need to figure out exactly what's going on." Bruce said. 

**"I'm gonna find a heavy-duty comm sat right now, I need your login."**

**"It's the same as it's always been, 'WarMachine68'.**

Tony looked over at Rhodey, amused. "So... you do think war machine is better." Tony said. Rhodey sighed and shook his head.

**"And password, please."**

"Oh no." Rhodey said, remembering what he recently changed his password to.

**"Well, look, I gotta change it every time you hack in, Tony."**

"Its something embarrassing, isn't it?" Clint asked.

"Yep." Rhodey said. 

**"It's not the '80s, nobody says 'hack' anymore. Give me your login."**

**"'WAR MACHINE ROX' with an 'X', all caps."**

Tony started laughing.

Rhodey shook his head and sighed, then glared at him. "Not a word." He said as other people started snickering.

**Tony starts laughing. "That is so much better than 'Iron Patriot.'" Tony makes a U-turn.**

"Definitely is." Scott said. 

**A beauty pageant is going on in the building Tony just passed. "Very nice. Very nice. I have one question for you. What would you like for Christmas this year?"**

**"Well, David..."**

"Ugh, those things are so demeaning." Natasha said, disgusted.

"You've done them?" Hope asked.

"It was a part of a cover for a mission a few years ago." Natasha explained.

**"Do not erase a program from my DVR unless you are 100% sure..." Gary says, on the phone. Tony slides past him and gets into the van.**

"Nice job blending in." Rhodey joked. 

**The beauty pageant is playing on the TV a man(Stan Lee) Holds up a sign with a '10'. "One more time! Ms Elk Ridge, everybody! All right." Tony turns it off.**

**"-Because you erase my shows!" Gary says from outside.**

"I wonder who that guy is arguing with." Quill said. "Seems pretty intense."

**"That ain't gonna cut it." Tony says. Gary opens the door.**

**"We talked about this. Excuse me, sir. I don't know who..."**

"And now you're caught." Shuri said.

**Tony turns around finger to his lips. "Shh."**

**"Mom, I need to call you back."**

"So it was his mom." Peter said. "Couldn't relate." He said quieter so May couldn't hear him.

**"Something magical is happening. Tony Stark is in my van."**

"So he's a fan." Coulson said. "This'll be interesting."

**"Shh. Keep it down."**

**"Tony Stark is in my van!"**

**"No, he's not."**

"He kind of is though." Happy said.

"Well, I can't exactly let everyone know that I'm there." Tony reasoned.

**"I knew you were still alive!"**

"Oh dear." Tony mumbled.

**"Come on in. Close the door." Gary enters the van and closes the door behind him. Tony**

**"Shh."**

**"Oh, wow. Can I just say, sir..."**

**"Yep." "I am your biggest fan."**

"This is gonna be fun." Clint said. Tony rolled his eyes. 

**"Okay. First, is this your van? Is anyone else gonna come in?"**

**"No, no, no. Just us."**

"That's good." Strange said.

**"Great. What's your name?"**

**"Gary."**

**"Gary?"**

**"Oh, wow."**

**"Right there is fine."**

**"Okay."**

**"Okay? I get a lot of this, it's okay."**

"Sounds exhausting." Natasha said.

"Oh, you have no idea." Tony sighed.

**"Oh, good. Can I just say?"**

**"What do you want?"**

**"Yeah. I don't know if you can tell, but I have, like, patterned my whole look after you. My hair's a little..."**

"So this is boarding on just a tad creepy." Rhodey said.

**"Its fine."**

**"It's not right, 'cause there's no product in it."**

**"Right."**

**"I don't want to make things awkward for you."**

"I think its a little late for that." Sam said.

**He shows Tony a tattoo. The tattoo is of Tony.**

"Do you get stuff like this, a lot?" Wanda asked.

"No this is actually a first." Tony answered. 

**"A Hispanic Scott Baio?"**

"That's your best guess?" Pepper asked.

**"I'm sorry. Is that me?"**

**"Yeah. It's... I mean... I had them do it off a doll that I made, so it's not like it's off a picture. So it's a little bit..."**

"Okay this is definitely a little creepy." Quill said.

**Tony grabs his shoulders. "Gary. Listen to me, okay? I don't want to clip your wings, here. We're both a little over-excited."**

"No, I think it was just him." Clint laughed.

**"I got an issue. I'm chasing bad guys. I'm trying to grab a little something from some hard-crypt data files. I don't have enough juice. I need you to jump on the roof... Right? Re-calibrate the lSDNs. Pump it up by about 40%."**

**"Got it."**

**"Alright, its a mission."**

"That's a good way to put it." Natasha spoke, in reference to Tony's persuasion. 

**"Yeah."**

**"Tony needs Gary."**

**"And Gary needs Tony."**

"This guy's weird." Scott said.

**"Be quiet about it. Go."**

**"Yeah." Gary is now on the roof doing what Tony told him to. He hits the side of the van 3 times, letting Tony know he's done. Tony logs into Rhodey's account and finds the files he needs.**

"They were experiments." Wanda muttered. "And the ones that went wrong, the mandarin takes credit for."

"He's not gonna get away with that." Tony seethed.

**Different interviews with Killian and others pop up. "What would you regard as the defining moment of your life?"**

**"Well, uh, I think that would be the day I decided not to let my injury beat me."**

"I mean, I guess for some people, they thought that not having an injury of disability would be amazing and they could be 'normal. That probably sounded so appealing to them that they didn't bother to think about the downsides." Strange said.

**Another video starts playing. Brandt is being interviewed, this version of her has one arm. "Will you please state your name for the camera?" "Ellen Brandt."**

"The woman from the bar." Mantis remembered.

**"Okay. So, the injections are administered periodically. Addiction will not be tolerated."**

"That one guy, Taggart, he must've been addicted." Pepper guessed.

**"And those who cannot regulate will be out from the program."**

"In other, more grotesque, words: You will die a very morbid death." Tony said.

**"Once misfits, cripples... You are the next iteration of human evolution. Everybody, before we start... I promise you, looking back at your life, there will be nothing as bitter as the memory of that glorious risk you prudently elected to forego. Today is your glory- Let's begin."**

"See, it sounded appealing." Strange said.

**People are being injected with Extremis. Brandt's arm starts glowing as it grows. She screams.**

A few people leaned away from the screen with a wince. 

"That looks very painful." Drax observed. 

**The man next to her starts screaming as well. "We gotta get out of here! We gotta get out of here! Get her out! Get them out of here!" The guy explodes.**

"That's terrible. He's seen what it does and he still gives it to people." Steve said. 

**"A bomb is not a bomb when it's a misfire. The stuff doesn't always work. Right, pal? It's faulty, but you found a buyer, didn't you? Sold it to the Mandarin. Got you, pal."**

"Finally figured it out." Quill said.

**Maya and Pepper are in a room, talking. "What happened? Fun fact. Before he built rockets for the Nazis, the idealistic Wernher von Braun dreamed of space travel. He stargazed.**

"Interesting." 

**Do you know what he said when the first V-2 hit London? 'The rocket performed perfectly. It just landed on the wrong planet'."**

"That's morbid. But what does it have to do with the situation at hand?" Shuri asked.

**"See, we all begin wide-eyed. Pure science. And then the ego steps in, the obsession. And you look up, you're a long way from shore."**

"Its true." Tony said, remembering what he used to use his intellect for and where it got him.

"But you found your way back and you're better for it." Rhodey said, sensing the self-deprecation. 

Bruce felt the same way, about what he turned himself into.

**"You can't be too hard on yourself, Maya. I mean, you gave your research to a think tank."**

"It wasn't her fault, she didn't know

**"Yeah, but Killian built that think tank on military contracts."**

"I did the same thing." Tony countered.

**"That's exactly what we used to do. So, don't judge yourself."**

"Awe, you're already thinking as one." Rhodey said.

**"Thank you, Pepper. I really appreciate that." There's a knock at the door, Pepper opens it. Its room service.**

**"Hi, Good evening, come on in." She says.**

**"Good evening." Killian steps up behind the waiter and twists his neck.**

"That asshole." Tony growled. He grabbed Pepper, protectively, despite knowing that this her wasn't in any danger.

**"Maya run!" She yells.**

**Killian puts her in a choke-hold against the wall. "Hi, Pepper"**

"Pepper." Tony gasped, tightening his grip.

"Tony, I'm scared too but you're cutting off the circulation to my hand." Pepper said.

"I swear to god, you better be okay." Tony said after loosening hos grip.

**Killian turns to Maya. "So, you want to tell me why you were at Stark's mansion last night?"**

**" I'm trying to fix this thing."**

"Trying to fix it? Fix what, Extremis?" Steve asked.

"Obviously." Bucky said.

"She thinks you can fix the glitch." Loki noted.

**"I didn't know you and the master were gonna blow the place up."**

"She's working with the mandarin too!?" Tony shouted 

**"Oh, I see. So, you were trying to save Stark when he threatened us?"**

"I didn't...-" Tony's eyes widened. "The 'mandarin's' a front Killian is the real mandarin." Everyone stared at him. "I threatened the mandarin, not Killian and Maya so why else would he say I threatened them if he wasn't the mandarin?" Tony explained. 

"That just leaves one question, who's the guy that does all of those videos?" Rhodey asked.

"Well, I guess we'll find out." Tony said.

**"I've told you, Killian, we can use him."**

**"Pepper. Pepper. Pepper."**

**"Look, if we want to launch product next year, I need Stark. He just lacked a decent incentive. Now, he has one."**

Tony was livid. How dare they use Pepper to get to him. It was one thing to threaten him directly, it was a completely different thing to threaten her. 

**Rhodey is flying through the air. "This is support team Blue-Zero. Sending coordinates for a suspected Mandarin broadcast point of origin."**

**"Copy." Rhodey busts into a sewing factory. "Nobody move!"**

"That's not right." Rhodey said.

A few people started giggling. 

**"Oh. Support Blue-Zero, unless the Mandarin's next attack on the U.S. involves cheaply-made sportswear, I think you messed up again."**

"How do they keep getting it wrong?" Scott asked.

"The US government is a joke." MJ suggested. 

**The women start walking up to him. "Yes, you're free, uh, if you weren't before. It's... Of course. Yes, ma'am. Iron Patriot on the job. Happy to help. No need to thank me, ma'am. It's my pleasure."**

"Such a gentleman." Tony joked.

"Maybe you should take lessons." Natasha suggested. 

**The last woman who grabs him's hands start glowing red. She shoves him to the ground, takes off the hijab. "Savin? I've acquired the Patriot armor."**

"This is not good, this is very not good." Clint said.

**"If you want this suit, you're going to have to pry my cold dead body out of it."**

"She better not." Tony said. Rhodey nodded in agreement. 

**"That's the plan, Colonel."**

Tony growled at the screen. 

**Tony is driving again, he's on the phone with Harley. "Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report." He says.**

**"Yeah, I'm still eating that candy. Do you want me to keep eating it?"**

"I don't think that's what he meant." Valkyrie said.

**"How much have you had?"**

**"Two or three bowls."**

"That is not healthy." Strange said.

**"Can you still see straight?"**

**"Sort of."**

**"That means you're fine."**

"No, no that means he should stop." Bruce said.

"You are so irresponsible." Rhodey sighed.

**"Give me Jarvis. Jarvis, how are we?"**

**" It's totally fine, sir. I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of the sentence I say the wrong cranberry."**

Everyone laughed. "Poor JARVIS." Natasha said. 

"Of course, the moment I need him, he stops working." Tony sighed. 

**Tony looks confused. "And, sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal."**

"Let's hope this signal is the right one." Rhodey said.

Tony nodded in agreement, he knew it would be, he had the upmost faith in JARVIS' tracking skills.

**"What are we talking? Far East, Europe, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?"**

**"Actually, sir, it's in Miami."**

Everyone sighed, thinking that it wasn't actually in Miami and they got the wrong signal once again. 

**"Okay, kid, I'm gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis' speech drive, but not right now. Harley, where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where it is."**

**"Um, it does say Miami, Florida."**

"Well. Not where I expected it to be." Tony said.

**"Okay, first things first, I need the armor. Where are we at with it?"**

**"Uh, it's not charging."**

"That's gonna be an issue." Steve said.

**Tony slams on the breaks, breathing heavily.**

Tony sighed, not again.

**"Actually, sir, it is charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not succeed in revitalizing the Mark 42." JARVIS says.**

**"What's questionable about electricity?"**

"Everything about electricity is questionable, you of all people should know that." Bruce said.

**"All right? It's my suit, and I can't... I'm not gonna... I don't wanna... Oh, God, not again." He gets out of the car.**

**"Tony? Are you having another attack? I didn't even mention New York."**

"That's probably not helping." Steve said.

**"Right, and then you just said it by name while denying having said it." He slides to the ground.**

**"Okay, um."**

**"God, what am I gonna do?"**

"You're not completely hopeless without the suit, you know that right?" Rhodey asked.

**"Just breathe. Really, just breathe. You're a mechanic, right?"**

**"Right."**

**"You said so."**

**"Yes, I did."**

**"Why don't you just build something?"**

**"Okay. Thanks, kid." Tony gets back into the car and drives off.**

Pepper, Rhodey and Happy all smiled. There was that familiar determination. 

**Tony walks through a hardware store, he picks up a wrench. He now has a full cart, he moves to another aisle and has 2 full carts. He goes to checkout. He is now in a hotel room building things with what he found.**

"What is all of that stuff?" Quill asked.

"You do remember I used to make weapons, right?" Tony asked.

**'Miami, Florida' appears on the screen. A large mansion is shown.**

"That must be where the mandarin is." Clint said. 

**Tony is hiding in a tree watching some guards. He jumps over a concrete wall. He sneaks up behind a guy and pulls him down the stairs with a rope, he shoots another with the gun he made.**

"Nice." Rhodey commented.

**He knees him in the no no area then tasers a guy that sneaks up behind him. He throws an ornament at 2 guys, one picks it up and it explodes in his face. He throws the other guy into the water and drops an ornament in with him.**

"You made explosives out of some junk you found in a hardware store.." Scott said. "Impressive." 

**He drops the gun on the gun on the ground and walks inside. There's a woman asleep on a table.**

"Not what I expected from a terrorists headquarters." Sam said.

**There's another in the living area. "Why is it so hot in here? I told you to put it at 68." She complains.**

**"My fault again. Let me tell you something, sweetheart. I am not your personal air con..." Tony puts the electric glove to his head. He grabs a gun off the table. The woman mimics a gunshot.**

"She's on a drug of some sort." Natasha pointed out.

**Tony walks away, when he enters another room, he takes the glove off with his teeth. He comes across a bed, two people are sleeping in it. He rips the cover off, revealing two more women. A man walks out of the bathroom, Tony ducks behind the bed. The mandarin walks out. "Well, I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes."**

"That's the mandarin!?" Everyone yelled.

"Or, the front at least." Rhodey added.

"Not what I was expecting." Tony said. 

**"Now, which one of you is Vanessa?"**

**"That's me." The light haired girl says.**

**"Nessie!" He throws her a fortune cookie.**

**"Did you know that fortune cookies aren't even Chinese?"**

**"There's some guy over th** **ere."**

**"They're made by Americans, based on a Japanese recipe."**

"Wasn't that on one of those videos?" Quill asked. 

**Tony steps out from behind the bed, gun pointed at the mandarin. "Hey!"**

**" Bloody hell. Bloody hell."**

"This guy is definitely not the mandarin." Scott laughed.

**"Don't move."**

**"I'm not moving. You want something? Take it. Although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones."**

"That video... the one where he shot that guy... that was staged?" Steve asked.

**"What?"**

**"Hey, do you fancy either of the birds?"**

"What is wrong with this guy?" Happy asked.

**"Heard enough. You're not him. The Mandarin, the real guy. Where? Where's the Mandarin? Where is he?"**

**"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He's here. He's here, but he's not here. He's here, but he's not here."** ****

"That makes no sense." Peter said.

**"What do you mean?"**

**"It's complicated. Hey, it's complicated."**

**"It is?"**

**"It's complicated."**

**"Un-complicate it. Ladies, out. Get out of the bed. Get into the bathroom. Sit."**

**"Ew."**

**"Oh, Jesus."**

"Gross." Scott said.

**The mandarin starts crawling on the floor, Tony shoots, he crawls back on to the seat. "My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery."**

**"What are you? What are you, a decoy? You're a double, right?"**

"A front, he's an actor." Natasha said.

**"What, you mean like an understudy? No, absolutely not." Tony points the gun at his face. "Don't hurt the face! I'm an actor."**

"I would say he'd be a bad actor if I hadn't seen the mandarin videos." Tony said.

**"You got a minute to live. Fill it with words."**

**"It's just a role. 'The Mandarin', see, it's not real."**

"Well it is but it isn't." Tony corrected.

**"Then how did you get here, Trevor?"**

**"Um. Well, I, um, had a little problem with, um, substances. And I ended up, um, doing things, no two ways about it, in the street, that a man shouldn't do."**

"Didn't really need to know that." Clint said.

**"Next?"**

**"Then, they approached me about the role, and they knew about the drugs."**

**"What did they say? They'd get you off them?"**

"No, use your head Tony, he's a junkie, he wants more not less." Natasha said.

**"They said they'd give me more. They gave me things. They gave me this palace. They gave me plastic surgery. They gave me things." He starts snoring.**

"Did he seriously just fall asleep?" Sam asked.

**"Did you just nod off? Hey." Tony kicks him.**

**"No, and a lovely speedboat. And the thing was, he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions."**

**"'He'? Killian?"**

**"Killian."**

**"He created you?"**

**"He created me."**

"Killian's been the one behind it from the beginning." Tony said.

**"Custom-made terror threat."**

**"Yes. Yes. His think tank thinked it up. The pathology of a serial killer. The manipulation of Western iconography. Ready for another lesson? Blah, blah, blah. No. Of course, it was my performance that brought the Mandarin to life."**

"I'm not gonna lie, he was very convincing in those videos." Steve said.

**"Your performance? Where people died?"**

**"No, they didn't. Look around you. The costumes, green screen. Honestly, I wasn't on location for half this stuff. And when I was, it was movie magic, love."**

"Does he not realize that it is very real?" Rhodey asked.

"He doesn't seem very intelligent, so I'm gonna go with no." Tony answered.

**"I'm sorry, but I got a best friend who's in a coma and he might not wake up. So you're gonna have to answer for that. You're still going down, pal. You under..." Savin hits Tony on the head, knocking him unconscious.**

"And now they have you." Steve said.

**"Okay, Trevor, what did you tell him?"**

**"I didn't tell him anything."**

"He's not a very good liar." Loki said.

**"Nothing?"**

**"No."**

**"You should have pressed the panic button."**

**"Well, I panicked, but then I handled it."**


	6. Kidnapping the president

**Maya and Tony are in a room, Tony is zip-tied to a bed frame. He wakes up. "It's just like old times, huh?" Maya asks.**

**"Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It's a ball."**

"Even captured, you still crack jokes." Rhodey said. 

**"It wasn't my idea."**

"To what? Use Extremis on people, untested?" Bucky asked.

**"Okay. So you took Killian's card."**

**"I took his money."**

"And here I thought she was nice." Tony said.

**"And here you are 13 years later, in a dungeon."**

**"No."**

"But technically she is..." Scott said.

**"Yeah."**

**"No, you're in a dungeon. I'm free to go."**

**"Yeah?"**

"That's true." Scott said.

**She walks up to him. "A lot has happened, Tony. But I'm close. Extremis is practically stabilized."**

"No, it isn't." Bruce said.

**"I'm telling you it isn't! I'm on the street. People are going bang. They're painting the walls. Maya, you're kidding yourself."**

**"Then help me fix it." She held out a card with an equation on the back of it.**

"You did that... while you were drunk." Shuri said. 

**"Did I do that?"**

"Of course you don't remember." Bruce sighed.

**She lowers the card. "Yes."**

**"I remember the night, not the morning. Is this what you've been chasing around?"**

"Well, I guess that's why she needed my help... I almost had it solved." Tony mumbled.

**"You don't remember?"**

**" I can't help you. You used to have a moral psychology. You used to have ideals. You wanted to help people. Now look at you."**

"She's been corrupted, for lack of a better word." Natasha said.

**"I get to wake up every morning with someone who still has their soul."**

Pepper smiled. 

**"Get me out of here. Come on."**

"I don't think she will." Thor said.

**Killian enters. "You know what my old man used to say to me? One of his favorite of many sayings... 'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese'."**

"What the hell does that mean?" Clint asked.

"I'm starting to think he makes these 'sayings' up on the spot." Scott said.

**"You're not still pissed off about the Switzerland thing, are you?"**

"No, how could he possibly still be mad about that?" Rhodey said, sarcastically.

**"How can I be pissed at you, Tony? I'm here to thank you.**

"Not what I was expecting." Happy said.

**You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me. Desperation.**

"Desperate people make desperate decisions." Gamora added.

**If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well, for the first 20 minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour... I considered taking that one-step shortcut to the lobby. You know what I mean."**

"I never realized the consequences of that decision." Tony admitted.

**"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse."**

"Tony." Pepper chided.

**"But as I looked out over that city, nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking. I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since. Right?"**

"As long as no one sees him, he isn't a target." Peggy realized.

**"You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target."**

**"You're something else."**

"He's insane." Hope said.

**"You have met him, I assume?"**

**"Yes. Sir Laurence Oblivier."**

**" I know he's a little over the top sometimes."**

"Only sometimes?" Clint asked.

**"It's not entirely my fault. He has a tenden... He's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croydon, wherever that is. Anyway, the point is, ever since that big dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety has kind of had its day."**

Thor looked offended and a little confused.

"He is right, you aren't exactly subtle." Loki said.

Valkyrie snickered. 

**"What's next for you in your world?"**

**"Well, I wanted to repay you the selfsame gift that you so graciously imparted to me." He shows Tony a video of Pepper, she's been injected with Extremis.**

"No." Tony gasped.

Pepper looked scared, what if she wasn't able to regulate it, what if she died.

The two of them started clinging to one another. 

**"Desperation. Now, this is live. I'm not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept Extremis or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is quite spectacular."**

Tony and Pepper both had tears in their eyes.

"You're gonna be okay, I swear you will be okay." Tony assured both himself and Pepper.

**"But until that point, it's really just a lot of pain. We haven't even talked salary yet. What kind of perk package are you thinking of?" He asks, putting Tony in a choke-hold.**

**"Let him go." Maya says.**

"So maybe she isn't that bad." Rhodey said. 

**"Hold on, hold on. Maya..." She's holding an Extremis injection to her neck.**

**"I said, let him go."**

**"What are you doing?"**

"She's gonna kill herself." Hope whispered.

**"1200 CCs. A dose half of this size, I'm dead."**

**"It's times like this my temper is tested somewhat. Maya, give me the injector."**

**"If I die, Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product?"**

"He needs her." Nebula said.

**"We're not doing this, okay?"**

**"What happens to you? What happens if you go too hot?"**

**He shoots Maya.**

"What? If he needed her help why would he shoot her?" Steve asked.

"Maybe he thinks he can get me to help... He's got another thing coming if he thinks I actually will." Tony threatened.

**"The good news is, a high-level position has just been vacated."**

Tony glared at him. He's a lunatic.

**"You are a maniac."**

**"No, I'm a visionary. But I do own a maniac. And he takes the stage tonight." He leaves.**

"No he's the maniac, Trevor is sane next to him." Clint said.

**"Once we get the Patriot installed, it will take me nine or 10 minutes for the take down." Savin tells him.**

**"Well, that's great, but the last time I looked there was somebody inside of it.**

"Yeah, me." Rhodey said angrily.

**Someone is using a drill to try and get the armor off of Rhodey.**

"Wont work." Tony said.

**Killian enters the room and the drill stops. "Afternoon, gentlemen. Hello, Colonel. Step aside." He puts his hands on the armor and it starts to glow orange. "Oh! We'll get you out of there. Don't worry."**

"If he melts it, how's is he gonna be able to use it?" Steve asked.

**"You'll damage the armor."**

**"Yes, I will. But you can fix it, right?"**

"I sincerely doubt that." Tony said.

**"I'm gonna take the Chinook to base camp. And I want Potts with me."**

**"She's still in Phase Two."**

**"You're not going deaf, are you?"**

"That can't be good." Strange said.

**Tony is still tied to the bed frame 2 guards are with him, his watch starts beeping. One of the guards picks it up.**

"Why did it start beeping, did you put an alarm on it or something?" Scott asked. Tony shrugged.

**"Careful, there. It's a limited edition. Hey, uh, Ponytail Express. What's the mileage count between Tennessee and Miami?"**

**"832 miles."**

**"Very nice."**

"You're gonna call the suit." Rhodey said.

"That's why the watch went off, it must finally be finished charging." Scott said.

**"I'm good like that. Can you, uh, stop that?" He asks the other guard.**

**"Break it, you bought it."**

**The guard drops the watch and steps on it. "I think I bought it."**

"Rude, what did the watch ever do to you?" Ned asked.

**"Okay, that wasn't mine to give away. That belongs to my friend's sister. And that's why I'm gonna kill you first."**

**"What are you gonna do to me?"**

"Yeah, how are you gonna kill him before your suit gets there, you're tied up." Natasha said.

**"You'll see."**

**"You're zip-tied to a bed."**

**"This." He holds out his hands and nothing happens. "That." Still, nothing happens.**

"So either you timed it wrong or its late." Pepper said.

**Killian is still trying to get Rhodey out of the armor. "Are you coming out?"**

**"Do not open. Do not open. Don't open. Don't open."**

"It's gonna open. It can't take that heat." Tony pointed out.

**It starts beeping. "All right. Let's go." The suit opens Rhodey jumps out and punches Savin, then kicks him. Killian breathes fire.**

"He breathes fire!?" Everyone yelled. 

"What the hell?" Rhodey asked, breathlessly.

**"You- You breathe fire? Okay." Savin knocks him out.**

"Shit." Tony sighed.

**"It's a glorious day, Savin. This time tomorrow, I'll have the West's most powerful leader in one hand, and the world's most feared terrorist in the other. I'll own the war on terror. Create supply and demand. For you, for your brothers and sisters."**

"He's a madman." Thor said.

**"Trust me, you're gonna be in a puddle of blood on the ground in five, four, three... Come on! Two..."**

"It still hasn't gotten there?" Clint laughed.

**"How did we get this shift?"**

"They probably think you're crazy." Rhodey said.

**"All right, I'm gonna give you a chance to escape. Put down your weapons. Tie yourselves to those chairs. I'll let you live. In five, four, bang!"**

**"Wow. That was..."**

**"You should be gone by now. You should've already been gone."**

Why is it so late?" Tony asked.

"Traffic." Sam suggested with a laugh.

"Oh, ha ha." Tony said.

**"I am just beyond terrified."**

"Same." Rhodey laughed.

**"Here it comes. Three, four..."**

**"Shut up."**

**" Five, four, three, two, one!" A gauntlet flies through the window and attaches itself to Tony's left hand.**

"Its about time." Wanda said.

**"Told you." Tony hits the guy with a repulsor.**

"Ha ha!" Scott cheered. 

**He frees himself from the bed frame he grabs a gun and blocks one of the guards from hitting him, one of the flight stabilizers attaches itself to his foot.**

"Where's the rest?" Rhodey asked.

**He kicks the guard away, then shoots him. "Where's the rest?"**

"Maybe they got lost." Sam laughed.

**Harley looks out his window and sees the shed doors banging, he walks out and unlocks the door, the rest of the suit flies out.**

"I guess that's why its taking so long." Tony mumbled.

**Three more guards enter, tony shoots at them with a repulsor beam. He flies up and shoots at them with his gun. He lands and ducks behind a wall, still shooting.**

"Must be difficult to use that thing when you only have 2 pieces." Clint commented.

**The gun runs out of bullets, he tosses it. A guard shoots at him from behind the wall. Tony fires a repulsor beam at him. He fires again at the guards above him. He flies up to them, then disarms one.**

"I guess minimal suit is better than no suit." Tony said. 

**He fires at two guards, being restrained by one , he steps on the guards toe causing him to shoot at the one on the floor. He throws himself and the guard behind him into the wall. One last guard enters, Tony aims both hands at him. " Honestly, I hate working here. They are so weird." Tony waves at him.**

"I mean... they are very strange people." Quill said. 

"If threatening the president and giving experimental drugs to strangers causing them to blow up is strange, then sure, they're strange people." Tony said.

**Tony starts walking through the hallway, the rest of the suit attaches itself to him. "Ah! Better late than never."**

"Finally." Scott said.

**He gets outside. "Not this time. Not the face." He catches the face-plate and puts it on.**

"Damn, I was hoping it would hit you." Natasha said, disappointed.

**"Phew! It's good to be back. Hello, by the way."**

**"Oh, hello, sir." JARVIS replied. He looks up and sees a plane flying away, then looks over and sees the patriot armor flying away.**

"How the hell did they do that so fast?" Rhodey asked, worried.

**Rhodey, now conscious, is sitting on the floor. "All personnel, Stark is loose and somewhere in the compound. Repeat, Stark is loose and somewhere in the compound." A guard says. Rhodey stands.**

"Did they honestly think that I wouldn't come up with some sort of plan?" Tony asked.

**" Ah! Let's go!" Tony goes to fly away, but he can't. "Aw, crap."**

"How did you expect to have any flight power? It did come all the way from Tennessee." Steve asked.

**Rhodey throws a guard over the wall, then jumps the wall and lands on top of the guard, he searches him. Tony walks down the stairs.**

A few people laugh. 

"You look so stupid right now." Pepper laughed. 

**Rhodey pulls out his phone. "Tony?" He asks.**

**"Rhodey, tell me that was you in the suit."**

"Um...." Scott trailed off.

**"No. You got yours?"**

**"Uh... Mmm. Kind of. Main house, as fast as you can. There's somebody I'd like you to meet."**

"Trevor." Quill guessed.

**Trevor is asleep in a chair, a beer in his hand. 2 girls are playing ping pong. 2 guards enter. "You, you, you! Move! Get out!" One of them says. The girls leave.**

**"The room is secure. I have eyes on the Mandarin."**

"No you don't." Peter said.

**Tony enters, holding a car battery and a ping pong paddle." What's this? I had winners." The guards fire at him. Rhodey jumps through the window.**

"You two have a shared habit of jumping through windows." Natasha mused.

"Great minds think alike." Tony replied.

"Sure... great minds." Pepper said.

**Rhodey shoots them. Trevor awakens and sips his beer.**

"How can he just sit there and drink amidst chaos?" Strange asked.

"Its easy if you put your mind to it." Valkyrie said. 

"Keep in mind, he's also been living around those people for months, chaos is probably a normal thing." Gamora said.

**"What have you come as?" Trevor asks. Rhodey points a gun to his head.**

**"You make a move, and I break your face."**

"You're even more trigger happy than Nat." Clint said. Natasha glared at him, but there was no heat behind it.

**"I never thought people had been hurt. They lied to me."**

"They're blowing things up and he thinks nobody's been hurt?" Steve asked, incredulously.

**"This is the Mandarin?" Rhodey asks, looking over at Tony**

**"Yeah, I know, it's... It's embarrassing."**

"You got that right." Scott said.

**"Hi, Trevor. Trevor Slattery. I know I'm shorter in person. A bit smaller. Everyone says that. But, um, hey, if you're here to arrest me, there's some people I'd like to roll on."**

**"Here's how it works, Meryl Streep."**

"You and your god-forsaken nicknames." Thor said.

**"You tell him where Pepper is and he'll stop doing it."**

**" Doing what?" Rhodey burns his ear with the gun. "Ow, I get it! Ow! That hurt. I get it! I get it! I don't know about any Pepper, but I know about the plan."**

"Well, that's a start." Tony sighed.

**"Spill."**

**" Do you know what they did to my suit?"**

"Of course you ask that." Tony said.

"Hey, its an important question, we have no idea what they could be doing." Rhodey protested.

"Point." Tony said.

**"What? No. But I do know it's happening off the coast. Something to do with a big boat. I can take you there." Trevor looks behind him at the TV. "Ole', ole', ole', ole'..."**

"I'm honestly starting to wonder how he was able to convince everyone he was a terrorist." Rhodey said.

**"Tony, I swear to God, I'm gonna blow his face off."**

"So impatient." Tony teased. 

**"Oh, and this next bit may include the vice president as well. Is that... Is that important?"**

**" Yeah, a little bit."**

"Ya think!?" Everyone yelled.

**"What are we gonna do? I mean, we don't have any transport."**

**"Right. Hey, Ringo. Didn't you say something about a 'lovely speedboat'?"**

A few people smirked.

**Tony and Rhodey are now on a boat. "If he's right about the location, we're 20 minutes from where Pepper is."**

**"But we also have to figure out this vice president thing, right?"**

**"Right. I wonder who I'm calling right now. Oh! That's the vice president."**

"You have the vice president's phone number?" Steve asked.

"I do, I've had it since the campaign started a few weeks ago." Tony said.

**A man hands the vice president his phone, he answers. "Hello?" He asks.**

**"Sir, this is Tony Stark."**

**"Welcome back to the land of the living."**

Tony sighed. 

**"We believe you're about to be drawn into the Mandarin campaign. We gotta get you somewhere safe as soon as possible."**

**"Mr Stark, I'm about to eat honey-roast ham, surrounded by the Agency's finest. The president's safe on Air Force One with Colonel Rhodes."**

"Yeah, about that-" Rhodey started.

**"I think we're good, here."**

"Debatable" Tony said.

**Rhodey takes the phone. "Sir, this is Colonel Rhodes. They're using the Iron Patriot as a Trojan horse. They're gonna take out the president somehow. We have to immediately alert that plane."**

"Yes, please do that." Scott said.

**"Okay, I'm on it. I'll have security lock it down. If need be, they can have F-22s in the air in 30 seconds. Thank you, Colonel."**

**"Rhodes and Stark out."**

Clint started laughing. "I'm sorry it's just the way you said it- it sounded so stupid." 

**"Everything okay, sir?" A man asks the vice president.**

**"Couldn't be better." He walks over to his daughter, who is in a wheelchair and has one leg. "I love you babe."**

"Killian is going to offer him Extremis as a cure for is daughter." Natasha observed.

**President Ellis walks toward a plane, rows of soldiers on either side of him salute him. The Iron Patriot lands and starts walking toward him. "Colonel Rhodes." He salutes him. Iron Patriot mimics the movement. "Glad to see you could make it, son. I feel safer already."**

"Except you aren't safe, at all." Rhodey said.

**"We gotta make a decision. We can either save the president, or Pepper. We can't do both."**

"That is a very difficult choice." Quill said.

Tony and Pepper glanced at each other, both realizing the severity of the situation.

"I'm not gonna let you die, I hope you know that." Tony said. 

**"Sir, I have an update from Malibu. The cranes have finally arrived, and the cellar doors are being cleared as we speak." JARVIS says.**

"The cellar doors, what's down- that's where you put all of your suits isn't it?" Pepper asked.

"I guess so." Tony replied.

**"And what about the suit I'm wearing?"**

**"The armor is now at 92%."**

**"That's going to have to do."**

"Oh boy." Scott sighed.

**The Iron Patriot walks up to two people. "Oh! Here he comes. Here he comes, get a quick picture."**

**"Sure." The other says and holds out his phone.**

"Looks like someone's got some fans." Tony teased. 

**Iron Patriot pushes him away and closes the door, he opens the suits hand and melts the door handle.**

"Wonder which one of Killian's soldiers this is." Rhodey said.

**He walks into a meeting room. "Everything all right, Colonel?"**

"No."

**Iron Patriot throws something at a man, killing him.**

A few gasps were heard.

**Another starts shooting at him. He throws him into another guy. Someone else starts shooting. He throws him through the wall, throws one into the table, shoots two more, and then kills the last one. The president and someone else are hiding under a table.**

"At least they're okay." Steve said.

**Iron patriot lifts up the table and throws the guy across the room. The President starts crawling away. Iron Patriot puts him in a choke hold.**

"Spoke too soon." Bucky said.

**The suit opens, the Extremis solder is revealed to be Savin.**

"Oh, that dick again." Happy said.

**"It is an honor, Mr President." He says.**

**"If you're gonna do it, do it!"**

"There's no way they're just going to kill him." Peggy said. 

**"Whoa! Cool your boots, sir. That's not how the Mandarin works."**

"What are they gonna do do him?" Howard asked quietly.

**"Sir, Air Force One has been compromised. Internal shots, temperature spikes."**

**"Get me eyes on it now."**

**" Image coming through now, sir."**

**"Was that Rhodes?"**

"Nope." Rhodey said.

**"Is anyone there?" Someone asks from the locked room.**

**"Let us out!" A woman yells. Savin, no longer in the suit, prepares to leave.**

"Why is he still there, he already took the president?" T'Challa asked.

**Someone knocks on the side of the plane, Savin looks to see who it was. Tony shoots him, through the plane. Savin stands up, smirking.**

**Tony tackles him from behind. He holds him against the wall. "The President. Now."**

**" He's not here."**

"Wait how, if he never left then- the armor." Rhodey realized. "He used the Iron Patriot armor to kidnap the president and presumably sent him straight to Killian." 

**Savin burns Tony's arm. "Try the jet stream? Speaking of which, go fish." He clicks a button and a hole is blown in the side of the plane. Everyone that was trapped starts falling out of the plane.**

"Oh no."

**Tony uses his chest repulsor to shoot a hole in Savin's chest. "Walk away from that, you son of a bitch."**

People cheered. "Finally!" Happy yelled. Tony stared at him. "I just really hate that guy." He explained.

**Tony rushes to the room where everyone was trapped, just as the last guy falls out, he flies out after him. " How many in the air?"**

**"Thirteen, sir."**

**"How many can I carry?"**

**"Four, sir."**

"Shit." Tony sighed.

"At least you can try to save as many of them as possible." Clint said.

**He flies down and grabs a woman. "Slow down. Slow down, relax. What's your name? Heather?"**

**"Oh, God! No! No!" The plane blows up.**

**"Listen to me. See that guy? I'm gonna swing by, you're just gonna grab him. You got it?"**

"I don't think she understands." Bruce said.

**"What? Oh!"**

**"I'll electrify your arm, you won't be able to open your hand. We can do this, Heather." She grabs the guy's leg.**

"That's actually a good idea." Strange said as he realized what Tony was trying to do.

**"Easy, see? Eleven more to go. Remember that game called Barrel of Monkeys? That's what we're going to do."**

"Here we go again with the children's games." Pepper sighed.

**"18,000 feet." JARVIS says.**

**"Come on, people. Everybody, grab your monkey. Nice." They grab 4 more people.**

**"10,000 feet." 2 more people. "6,000 feet."**

"You're getting pretty close to the ground." Scott said, worried.

**"Come on, people. Come on, come on, come on! Yeah!" They grab more people. One more remains. "1, 000 feet. 400 feet. 200 feet, sir."**

**" He's a chunky monkey, let's get him. Hello." The grab him, once they get low enough, Tony drops them in the water.**

A few people looked impressed. 

**They start cheering. " Nice work, guys! Excellent. Good team effort all around. Go us. All right, Jarvis. But it's only half-done. We've still got to get Pepper-" The armor gets hit by a bus.**

A few people flinched from surprise.

"So you weren't actually there?" Sam asked.

**"That came out of nowhere. Wow."**

**Rhodey opens the door.** **"Give me some good news, man."**

**"I think they all made it."**

"That's good." Steve said.

**"Oh, thank God."**

**"Yeah, but I missed the president."**

**"You couldn't save the president with the suit, how are we gonna save Pepper with nothing?"**

"Hey I only missed the president because he was gone before I got there." Tony defended. 

**"Uh... Say, JARVIS, is it that time?"**

**"The House Party Protocol, sir?"**

"What the hell is The House Party Protocol?" Pepper asked.

"I don't know I haven't made it yet." Tony said.

"Well, whatever it is, it better help us get Killian." Rhodey said. 

"Its a surprise tool that can help us later." Peter said, doing a bad impression of Mickey Mouse.

**The cellar doors open. Blue circles of light are seen.**

"All of your suits." Pepper realized.


	7. I am the Mandarin

**Killian injects Pepper with Extremis.**

Tony looked murderous. 

Pepper looked scared. 

**Pepper gasps awake. "Hi." Killian greets.**

**"You think he's gonna help you? He won't." She says.**

"Damn right I'm not going to help him, not after the mandarin, the president, what he's going to you..." Tony said.

**"Having you here is not just to motivate Tony Stark. It's, um... Well, it's actually more embarrassing than that. You're here as my, um..." Killian starts.**

**"Trophy." Pepper finishes.**

"That is sick." Rhodey said.

Everyone agreed with him.

**"Mmm." Iron Patriot lands 2 men follow him in.**

**"Good evening, sir." He greets. The armor opens and President Ellis falls out.**

Though everyone knew that the president was inside of the armor, they still gasped when he fall out.

**"Welcome aboard, Mr President. Ever hear of an elephant graveyard? Well, two years ago, the elephant in the room was this scow." He shows a picture of their location.**

**"This is the Roxxon Norco." The president says.**

"The oil rig." Tony said in realization.

**"And, of course, you'll remember that when she spilled a million gallons of crude off Pensacola."**

"I remember that." Pepper said slowly.

**Thanks to you, not one fat cat saw a day in court."**

"This guy is making no sense." Clint said. "Well, he's insane. What did you expect?" Coulson asked.

**"What do you want from me?"**

**"Uh, nothing, sir. I just needed a reason to kill you that would play well on TV."**

"Oh no." Steve gasped.

**"You see, I've moved on. I found myself a new political patron, and this time tomorrow, he'll have your job. String him up."**

"He's going to try and make the mandarin the leader of the country, that was his plan the whole time." Tony realized. "It all makes sense, giving the vice president Extremis, the lessons he claimed to be teaching us, threatening the president."

**Tony and Rhodey climb onto the oil rig. "Come on. You're not gonna freak out on me, right?"**

**"I hope not."**

"I do too." Pepper said.

**They get closer to where the President is, he's hanging by some wires, in the suit.**

"Oh my God." Rhodey and Tony whispered.

**"Oh, my God. He's strung up over the oil tanker. They're gonna light him up, man."**

"Holy shit." Quill gasped. 

**"Viking funeral. Public execution."**

**" Yeah, death by oil." They run up a flight of stairs.**

**"Broadcast will commence shortly. Take final positions." Someone says over the PA.**

"The question is: How did they do this going completely unnoticed by any public officials?" Bruce asked.

"Maybe he had help. He's got a lot of soldiers." Sam suggested. 

**Killian looks at a camera. "Okay. That's good. Now give me cameras A through E and we'll do a full tech rehearsal."**

"He's making all of this look really professional." Natasha commented.

"Well, he is all about the theatrics and behind the scenes stuff." Tony said.

**"ls your gun up?" Rhodey asks, Tony raises his gun.**

Rhodey sighed and shook his head. 

**"Yep. What do I do?"**

**"Stay on my six, cover high and don't shoot me in the back." Tony moves his gun away from Rhodey.**

"What am I gonna do with you?" Rhodey sighed.

**"Six, high, back. Alright." Someone starts shooting at them, Rhodey runs for cover, Tony starts shooting back, he misses several times.**

"Nice." Clint joked.

**"You see that? Nailed it."**

"Oh, yeah definitely." Rhodey said, sarcastically.

**"Yeah, you really killed the glass."**

**"You think I was aiming for the bulb? You can't hit a bulb at this distance."**

"Yes you can, its just _you_ who can't." Clint said.

**Rhodey shot the light, putting it out.**

"Haha Nice." Clint said.

**"All personnel, we have hostiles on east unit 12."**

**"I'm out. Give me. You got extra magazines?" Rhodey rolls his eyes.**

**"They're not universal, Tony."**

"Exactly." Natasha said.

**"I know what I'm doing, I make this stuff. Give me another one. One of yours."**

**"I don't have one that fits that gun."**

**"You've got, like, five of them. Here's what I'm going to do. Save my spot, ready?" He stands up and sits back down, quickly.**

"That was definitely not enough time." Natasha laughed.

**"What'd you see?"**

**"Too fast. Nothing. Here we go." He stands up again, for longer this time, then sits hack down.**

**"Three guys, one girl, all armed." The soldiers jump down and circle around them.**

"This is bad." Quill said.

"Yeah, no shit Quill." Rocket said. 

**"God, I would kill for some armor right now."**

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Tony said.

 **"You're right. We need backup."**

"Oh yeah." Scott said. "Big time."

**"Yeah, a bunch."**

**"You know what?" He nods at something in the distance.**

**"Is that-" "Yep.**   
**"Are those-"**

**"Yep." Dozens of suits fly in and circle the area. "Merry Christmas, buddy."**

"Ok that's... that's pretty cool." Clint said. Pretty much everyone agreed. 

**"JARVIS, target Extremis heat signatures. Disable with extreme prejudice."**

**"Yes, sir." JARVIS's voice echoed through each of the suits.**

**"What are you waiting for? It's Christmas. Take them to church."**

"So dramatic." Pepper said and rolled her eyes.

**One of the suits flies over to three of the soldiers, another flies over to 4 more soldiers. "Gentlemen." JARVIS greets.**

"So polite." Natasha said.

**The suit splits apart and kills them, then comes back together.**

"That's sweet as hell." Scott said.

**3 soldiers rip apart one of the suits. A suit flies over to him and Rhodey. "Incoming! *They duck* Jarvis, get Igor to steady this thing." A large suit runs underneath the collapsing metal.**

"You made a giant Iron Man." Bruce said.

"It looks like I made a lot of Iron Men." Tony said.

**"This is how you've been managing your down time, huh?"**

**"Everybody needs a hobby. "**

"I think this is a less hobby more obsession, but okay." Pepper said.

**Heartbreaker, help Red Snapper out, will you?" Soldiers tear the heads off of 2 more suits.**

"I have to ask, what is with these names?" Rhodey asked.

**One flies into something and it explodes. Pepper gets knocked back with the force of it. A suit lands and Tony gets in. "Nice timing."**

"Nice timing indeed." Thor said.

**"Oh, yeah. That's awesome. Give me a suit, okay?"**

**" Oh, I'm sorry, they're only coded to me."**

"Oof." The teenagers said.

**"What does that mean?"**

**"I got you covered." Tony flies away.**

**A suit lands across from Rhodey. "Good evening, Colonel. Can I give you a lift?"**

**The suit wraps its arms around Rhodey. "Very funny."**

Everyone laughed. Rhodey crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. 

**A soldier jumps on top of the suit, knocking Rhodey off. Two soldiers start running. A large suit lands and blocks their path. It hits the ground, knocking them upwards, another suit flies by and shoots them both.**

"Your suits make a good team." Clint said. "Well I should hope so." Tony said. 

**"Sir, I've located Ms Potts." JARVIS says.**

"That's good." Wanda said.

**"About time." Tony walks into the room Pepper's in and sees her lying on the floor underneath debris. He lifts it.**

"That's probably not a good idea." Rhodey said.

**"Stop! Put it down. Put it down. Put it down." Tony sets it down. "See what happens when you hang out with my ex-girlfriends?"**

"That's maybe not the best time to bring that up." Hope said.

**"You're such a jerk."**

Tony nodded. 

**"Yep. We'll talk about it over dinner." He holds out his hand. "Come on. A little more, baby." They try to grab each others hands. Killian comes up though the floor and rips the arc reactor out of Tony's suit.**

Tony and Pepper gasped. 

"That asshole." Rhodey muttered.

**"Is this guy bothering you?"**

"He's trying to save her. I can't say the same about you, though." Steve said.

**He hovers over tony, placing a finger on the suit, burning it. "Don't get up. Ooh. Is it hot in there? Stuck? Do you feel a little stuck? Like a little turtle, cooking in his little turtle suit."**

Pepper and Tony hugged each other, a silent assurance that they were both okay.

**"Oh, Tony."**

**"She's watching. I think you should close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. You don't want to see this." Killian goes to punch him, Tony cuts his arm off.**

"Good move." Natasha commented.

**Killian starts to grow his arm back. "Yeah, you take a minute."**

A few people laughed.

**Pepper falls through the floor.**

"Pepper." Tony gasped, holding her tighter. 

**The suit opens and Tony gets out. A conveyor belt starts moving the object Pepper is dangling from. Tony starts chasing her, a soldier chasing him. Tony jumps, the soldier is tackled by a suit.**

"Thank the gods for JARVIS." Bruce said. 

**Tony starts running toward Pepper. "Jarvis, give me a suit right now!" Tony continues, a suit ready to catch him gets blasted away. Tony stumbles. "Oh, come on!"**

"Shit."

**Rhodey looks down at where the president is. "Mr President! Just hold on, all right? I'm coming. Just hold on. Hold on." 2 soldiers start running toward him. He zip-lines down a wire. He shoots the soldiers, they heal.**

"That just makes this a whole lot harder." Rhodey said. 

**"Okay." The soldiers run toward him. Rhodey falls, he hangs onto the edge. "Bye-bye." He shoots at the hook holding the storage container up. The soldiers fall, Rhodey uses the leverage to grab the president.**

Everyone let out sighs of relief. The President was safe.

**The storage container falls and explodes.**

"God dammit." Tony swore.

 **"Brace yourself." They get to safety, Rhodey shoots the remaining wore still holding the President. "You look damn good, Mr President, but I'm gonna need that suit back."**

Tony shook his head with a smile.

 **Tony continues running toward Pepper.**

**"The President is secure, Tony. I'm clearing the area."**

**"Nice work."**

**Rhodey, now in his suit, wraps his arm around the President. "Ready, sir?"**

**"What do you mean 'ready'?"**

"It is a very strange feeling." Clint said, remembering when Tony did that for him.

**Rhodey flies off, the President screams.**

A few people tried and failed to stifle their laughter.

**Tony finally reaches Pepper. "Pep, I got you. Relax, I got you. Just look at me! Honey, I can't reach any further and you can't stay there. All right? You've got to let go. You've got to let go! I'll catch you, I promise." The container shakes and Pepper falls. "No!"**

"Pepper!" Tony gasped, tears in his eyes. Pepper started crying. "Please don't be dead." Tony begged. "I swear to god, you better not be dead."

**Killian walks up to him. Tony hops over the railing. "A shame. I would've caught her."**

"How could he possibly think it was appropriate to say that?" Steve asked, disgusted. 

Tony's expression darkened.

**They start running toward each other. Tony slides under his legs, a suit catches him.**

"Smart." 

**Tony turns back around and they start fighting. Tony shoves Killian against the railing. Killian rips the suit's arm off. Killian pushes him onto the ground and jumps on top of him. "Eject." Tony says and he flies out from underneath him.**

"You better have another one there to catch you." Rhodey said.

**Another suit catches him. Tony flies up and grabs Killian, they land on the roof. Tony shoots repulsor beams at him, Killian dodges. They continue fighting. Killian rips the suits leg off of Tony and hits him with it. He stands over him. "Well, here we are on the roof."**

"And now I have to listen to the monologue." Tony muttered. 

**Killian slices the suit in 2, Tony falls out. "Mark 42 inbound." JARVIS says.**

"I'll be dammed." Steve said.

**"I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns." The suit continues its trajectory but crashes into the railing and falls apart. "Whatever."**

A few people laughed. "Mark 42 sucks." Rhodey sighed.

**"You really didn't deserve her, Tony."**

Pepper glared at the screen.

**"It's a pity. I was so close to having her perfect." He jumps down to where Tony is.**

"She is already perfect, asshole." Tony said.

**"Okay, okay, wait, wait, wait! Slow down! Slow down! You're right. I don't deserve her. Here's where you're wrong. She was already perfect."**

"You two are so adorable, its almost sickening." Rhodey said.

**Tony directs mark 42 to attach itself to Killian.**

"What are you planning?" Natasha asked quietly. 

**"Jarvis, do me a favor and blow Mark 42."**

**"No!" Killian screams before the face-plate comes. Tony jumps off the roof. The suit explodes.**

"If that doesn't kill him, I don't know what will." Clint said.

**Tony jumps into another suit. He crashes and grabs onto the railing. A piece of the oil rig starts collapsing and he falls. An Iron Man helmet lands across from him, he stares at it, the face plate pops off, revealing that Killian is not inside it. Killian walks out of the flames.**

"Son of a bitch!" Tony cursed.

"Oh! Come on!" Rhodey yelled. 

**"No more false faces. You said you wanted the Mandarin. You're looking right at him. It was always me, Tony. Right from the start. I am the Mandarin!"**

"We knew that." Peter whispered.

**Something hits Killian. Pepper is standing there, holding a yellow pole.**

Tony smiled. "You're not dead." He gasped.

"I'm not dead." She repeated, relieved.

"Oh, thank god." They both said.

**"I got nothing." Tony says, shocked. A suit starts flying toward her.**

"Shit."

**"Jarvis, subject at my 12 o'clock is not a target, disengage!" Tony says, only to realize his earpiece is on the ground. The suit shoots. Pepper starts running toward him. "What? Oh, what, are you mad at me?" She uses him as leverage to destroy the suit.**

The two of them sighed in relief.

**She sticks her arm inside of the gauntlet and punches Killian. She kicks a bomb at him, shoots it and Killian blows up.**

Everyone cheered. 

**"Honey?"**

**"Oh, my God. That was really violent."**

Tony smiled.

**"You just scared the devil out of me. I thought you were-"**

**"I was dead. Why? Because I fell 200 feet?"**

"That's fair." Tony said.

**"Who's the hot mess now?"**

**"It's still debatable. Probably tipping your way a little bit. Why don't you dress like this at home? Hmm? Sport bra. The whole deal."**

"Really?" Pepper asked, exasperated.

**"You know, I think I understand why you don't want to give up the suits. What am I going to complain about now?"**

**" Well, it's me. You'll think of something. Come here."**

"You got that right." Rhodey said.

**"No, don't touch me."**

**"Don't worry about it."**

**"No, I'm gonna burn you." Tony grabs her arm.**

**"No, you're not. Not hot."**

**" Am I gonna be okay?"**

"Of course you are." Tony assured.

**"No. You're in a relationship with me. Everything will never be okay.**

"Sounds about right." Pepper said.

**"But I think I can figure this out, yeah. I almost had this 20 years ago when I was drunk. I think I can get you better. That's what I do. I fix stuff."**

**"And all your distractions?"**

**" Uh... I'm going to shave them down a little bit."**

Pepper and Tony smiled at each other.

**"JARVIS. Hey."**

**"All wrapped up here, sir. Will there be anything else?"**

**" You know what to do."**

**"The Clean Slate Protocol, sir?"**

**"Screw it, it's Christmas. Yes, yes" Pepper and Tony hug as they watch the suits blow up.**

"This is like some weird version of fireworks." Scott said.

**Tony kisses her cheek. "Okay, so far? Do you like it?"**

**"It'll do."**

"Awe." Everyone cooed.

**Tony's voice over starts again. "And so, as Christmas morning began, my journey had reached its end."**

"That's strangely poetic." Thor said.

**You start with something pure, *Maya appears* something exciting. *Killian appears* Then, come the mistakes. The compromises. *The vice president is being arrested, Rhodey watches*We create our own demons."**

"I'll say." Rhodey muttered.

**Trevor is being taken into custody. "As promised, I got Pepper sorted out, it took some tinkering." Nurses are putting on surgical masks.**

"Who's getting surgery?" Rhodey asked.

**"But then I thought to myself, 'Why stop there'?" Tony is lying on a gurney.**

"You're getting it removed." Pepper realized.

Tony looked shocked, he's thought about removing it a few times but he never thought he'd actually go through with it.

**"Of course, there are people who say progress is dangerous, *He gives Pepper and Rhodey a thumbs up* but I'll bet none of those idiots ever had to live with a chestfull of shrapnel."**

"I don't think many people have." Bruce said.

**A nurse takes a piece of shrapnel out, it flies up to a magnet. "And now, neither will I. Let me tell you that was the best sleep I'd had in years."**

"I could imagine." Rhodey said.

**Tony puts a necklace on pepper, they turn to look at each other.**

"Stop being so disgustingly cute." Rhodey complained.

**Happy wakes up, coughing.**

Pepper, Rhodey and Tony cheered. "You're awake." Rhodey said.

"You've missed a lot." Tony added.

"Oh haha." Happy said.

**"Its okay, its okay." The nurse says.**

**Happy shakes his head and points to the TV. "No, look." Downtown Abbey is playing.**

Tony laughed quietly.

**Harley gets off the bus and goes to his shed, which he finds has been upgraded by Tony.**

"That was nice of you." Pepper said.

**Tony is walking through the remains of his house, he walks up to the cliff. He takes the arc reactor out of a paper bag and throws it into the ocean.**

"Still not nostalgic." Natasha commented with a smirk.

**"So, if I were to wrap this up, tie it with a bow, or whatever... I guess I'd say my armor, it was never a distraction, or a hobby. It was a cocoon."**

"D: all of the above." Rhodey said.

**"And now, I'm a changed man. You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys. One thing you can't take away... I am Iron Man." Tony drives away with the remains of his bots in tow.**

"I will never understand the weird connection you have with those things." Pepper said.

**"You know, and thank you by the way. For listening. Plus, something about just getting it off my chest, and putting it out there in the atmosphere, instead of holding this in... I mean, this is what gets people sick, you know. Wow, I had no idea you were such a good listener."**

"Who are you talking too?" Bruce asked.

**Tony is shown talking to Bruce, who has fallen asleep.**

Bruce sighed.

**"To be able to share all my intimate thoughts and my experiences with someone, it just cuts the weight of it in half. You know, it's like a snake swallowing its own tail. Everything comes full circle."**

"Morbid analogy." Rhodey commented.

**Bruce drops his pen and wakes up. "And the fact that you've been able to -help me process...*He pauses to look at him* Are you with me?"**

"No, he wasn't." Clint said.

**"Sorry... I was, yeah. We were at, uh..."**

**"Are you actively napping?"**

**" I was... I... I drifted."**

**"Where did I lose you?"**

**" Elevator in Switzerland."**

A few people sighed.

**"So, you heard none of it?"**

**"I'm sorry. I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm not a therapist. It's not my training."**

"You don't have to be that kind of doctor to listen to your friend, Bruce." Peggy said.

**"So?"**

**"I don't have the..."**

**"What? The time?"**

"I always have the time, just not sure about the patience." Bruce said.

**"Temperament."**

"Yeah, that makes sense. Hulk or no Hulk it takes a lot to be able to deal with this one." Rhodey said.

**"You know what? Now that I think about it... Oh! God, my original wound. 1983, all right?"**

'This better not be going where I think this is going.' Tony thought.

**"Yes."**

**"I'm 14 years old, I still have a nanny. That was weird."**

Tony sighed. 

"You still had a nanny at 14!?" Clint laughed.

"I was in college..." Tony mumbled.

"That's really not making it better, man." Rhodey said.


End file.
